


Antivenin

by dragonshost



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Post-Tartaros Arc (Fairy Tail), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Song fic, canon abandonment, not flattering to Natsu, they're not dealing with it well
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-01-04 15:33:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12171729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonshost/pseuds/dragonshost
Summary: In a world where Fairy Tail does not disband after Tartaros' defeat, first Natsu and Happy left Lucy behind in order to train, and then so did Gray and Juvia. Picking up the pieces and pushing back the poison filling Lucy's soul may take a special sort of antivenin. Antivenin, after all, is made from poison, too.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Song Used: "Move Into Light" by Juventa feat Erica Curran, Koven Remix.

_**In Your Eyes** _

* * *

The day Natsu left to train for a year –  _without her_ – broke something inside of Lucy's soul.

She could hear it, feel it crumble and fall. Leaving a gaping abyss where her surety and belief that her family wanted her once resided.

Emptiness filled her, at once making her light of head and heavy of feet. She couldn't move. Couldn't tell Natsu and Happy not to go, to not leave her behind, to take her with them. The tears that slipped down her cheeks later were noted, but the blonde woman felt no need to address them. She let the droplets of saltwater rest upon her cheeks, yet another agonizing reminder of friends lost and beyond her reach.

* * *

_**We Are All That Remains  
Of A World In Chaos Broken By Change** _

* * *

Juvia witnessed her Love Rival's despair for the vanished Fire Dragon Slayer, and the rising tides that accompanied water magic left unchecked.

A pinprick of light returned to the abyss of Lucy's soul when her blue-haired friend offered to help her learn to harness her newfound abilities. The pair became nigh inseparable almost overnight, Juvia's stalking habits all but ceasing while she concentrated on making sure Lucy was okay. Lucy smiled and shared her pain over Aquarius with the water woman. They sobbed and mourned together over the loss of the violent mermaid.

So long as Juvia was nearby, Lucy felt she might be able to make it through the year of separation intact.

But that feeling and her slowly returning happiness weren't to last long.

* * *

_**We Are Light In The Dark  
Calling Out For Something To Spark** _

* * *

The day Gray left to train as well destroyed what remained of the Celestial Mage's soul. Not just because another member of her team was deserting her, but also because Juvia was going with him.

Juvia had apologized over and over to her friend for choosing to follow Gray, but explained as best she could that she couldn't let Gray disappear. She left unsaid that she didn't want the same, pervasive sorrow that plagued Lucy to befall her as well.

And Lucy understood. She loved Juvia, and didn't want the water mage to be left behind as well. So she consented to abandonment once more.

Gray at least had the decency to look like Lucy felt when he said his farewell to her. "I'm sorry, Luce. But I need to do this." He reached out and ruffled her hair fondly. "I  _will_  be back, and so will the Flame-Brain. Even if I have to drag him back by that silly scarf. And I'll truss up the stupid cat for you."

The blonde tried very hard to give him a smile, but she feared it trembled with the same intensity as her heart.

As she waved goodbye to the departing mages, something slick and foul began to well up in the previously empty space within Lucy's soul – worse than even the hollow dark.

Lucy welcomed it, for it was company. And it would not – could not – leave her of its own volition.

* * *

_**And We'll Hide In The Graphite** _

* * *

Wendy and Erza, though they tried to reach out to Lucy, could only watch as their friend slipped further away from the carefree, cheerful person she had once been. Smiles from the blonde were few and far between, and even the tears no longer ran.

Erza missed the girl that would go shopping with her and debate endlessly on which style of strawberry cake was the best (the redhead was of the firm belief that strawberry mille-feuille took the cake, pardon the pun. Lucy disagreed and insisted it was cheese cake drowned with strawberry syrup). The Titania found the loss of Lucy's smile and vibrant animation almost unbearable. She suspected that the blonde turned her down whenever she invited her to spend time together because being with Erza reminded Lucy too much of their broken team.

Wendy mourned the fact that her Sky Dragon Slayer Magic couldn't heal shattered hearts. If she could, she would expend every last drop of energy she had in making her older sister whole again. She turned to Carla for help, but all the cat could advise was to let Lucy work it out on her own. Wendy disagreed, but no matter what she tried – from inviting Lucy on jobs, to just asking to spend time with her – the Sky Dragon Slayer felt her friend's very essence floating through her desperately grasping fingers to join Grandeeny at her place in the sky.

Numb, Lucy floated through life. If such a state of existence could even be called life at that point.

There were things to be done, and a city to rebuild. Lucy fulfilled all that was required of her and more in the reconstruction efforts. It kept her preoccupied. She needed the busywork. If she wasn't kept constantly moving, she would stop. Just… stop

But something was still missing, and no amount of busywork could change that fac. That which had held her to the ground, a smile that outshone even her own, was gone along with so many other loved ones. Un-tethered, Lucy could no longer even care that she was drifting from the others.

Until the day that  _he_  showed up, and colour began to fill in the edges of Lucy's grey, hazy world once more.

* * *

_**Deep Inside The Earth** _

* * *

It was coming up due again. Rent. Lucy had to take a mission soon that paid enough Jewels to make the half-payment her still scary landlady had reduced it to. Which Lucy was grateful for – vaguely. The apartment was missing half a wall, but she'd gotten used to the draft.

Her eyes skimmed the large number of flyers. Most involved the reconstruction efforts – even if Fairy Tail was assisting for free there were still things to be done outside the normal purview that required payment. A lot of such requests involved locating personal effects hidden amongst the devastation, though some involved procuring needed supplies from distant places.

Buried beneath the others, a faded red notice, almost pink in colour, caught Lucy's attention. Interest piqued for the first time in a long while, she unearthed the old job flyer. A faint smile tugged at her lips as she read it.

A monster hunting request in a cave thought to be haunted.

It was just the sort of job Team Natsu had taken, with Juvia (stalking Gray) as accompaniment, before… before…

The wave of inky loneliness washed over Lucy once more, as she stared at the job flyer.

Dejected, she made to hang it up again. It wasn't a new one – the requester probably didn't need it fulfilled anymore, if they were even alive.

Before she could place the final tack, a silence behind her drew her attention. Her guild mates, the few that were in at the moment, had all ceased their chattering and directed their attention to the same spot.

In the middle of the sparse guildhall stood a familiar person, looking just as adrift as Lucy felt.

As soon as her mind made the observation, the man's head whipped towards her. He directed a baleful glare at her with his single eye.

A diminutive old man walked up to the dark-skinned interloper, weariness and countless stories writ in every wrinkle upon his skin. Instead of demanding for the dangerous individual (now glaring at  _him_ ) to explain his presence, Makarov merely smiled up at the young man.

"Where would you like your stamp?"

Something changed in the demeanor of the former criminal. Lucy recognized it for what it was – the draining of tension held for far too long.

"Left shoulder. Red."

Once he had the Fairy Tail mark emblazoned upon his skin, Cobra glanced down to inspect it thoroughly.

"Did it pass muster?" Makarov asked, his grin widening as Cobra jumped a little. "Oh my, I didn't think it was possible to surprise a mind-reader."

Cobra gave him a half-hearted snarl, more out of habit than true enmity. "It's Soul-Listening Magic. And I was listening to someone else."

"You mean eavesdropping on someone else?"

"Screw you."

Makarov clucked his tongue at the other mage. "No, my boy. Now that you're a part of the guild, you're going to have to show some respect to your Guild Master. Instead of, 'Screw you,' it should be, 'Screw you, Master Makarov.'"

"SCREW YOU, MASTER MAKAROV."

Unbidden, a light laugh popped like a bubble from the Celestial Mage watching the pair.

It brought warmth to Makarov's heart to hear it.

Cobra just gave her a profoundly unamused facial expression as his response.

Lucy swiftly turned away, heat flooding her cheeks for the first time in a month that had nothing to do with tears. Grabbing another flyer with an appropriate reward amount, she tromped up to her Guild Master and shoved it in his face.

"I'm going on this one!"

She pretended that she didn't notice Cobra staring at her as she left.

Though his snort did let her know his opinion on that.

* * *

_**And Wait For The Fires To Start  
In Your Eyes** _

* * *

A week or so after that debacle, Lucy found herself at the board once more. Although the job she'd randomly taken the day Cobra joined Fairy Tail had been enough to cover her rent, she was still short on food money and other basic necessities.

She briefly glanced at the old flyer, still untouched. Almost reaching for it, she stopped herself and grabbed the one next to it.

Brow furrowed, she contemplated the paper in her hand. It involved capturing a band of thieves preying upon the less fortunate of the city. This was too difficult a job for her to do by herself. But her stubbornness wouldn't allow her to return it to the board. Maybe she could ask Erza or Wendy for assistance? It had been a while since she'd worked with either of her female teammates that had remained behind.

Glancing up, she caught sight of maroon hair. Lucy took the opportunity to observe Cobra for a second, as his attention was directed firmly elsewhere. The tension had returned to his shoulders, and a grimace curled around his lips.

Following his gaze, she spotted Kinana some distance away giving an impassioned goodbye to her beau that she had met and fallen head-over-heels for during the reconstruction. A man that, while not a mage, was good, and kind, and reliable. Everything Cobra wasn't.

Lucy had been aware of Cobra and Kinana's friendship on a small level – it was a fact made obvious in the lack of surliness the Poison Dragon Slayer directed to the purple-haired woman. Now she wondered if it had gone deeper than that for the former criminal.

Before she knew what she was doing, or that her feet had even moved, Lucy was beside Cobra's chair.

His eye snapped to her, guarded and clouded with wariness.

She held the flyer out to him. "Want to come?"

' _Please don't reject me,'_  her soul whispered.

Cobra threw one long, final look at the happy couple at the other side of the guildhall.

Both he and Lucy had people that had gone beyond their reach.

He nodded at the Celestial Mage, and she smiled brightly at him, the darkness within pushed away just a little bit.

* * *

_**In Your Eyes** _

* * *

Mirajane jolted in surprise when Lucy thunked down in a salvaged barstool and demanded a strawberry milkshake from the barmaid. In shock, the white-haired woman made it for the blonde and placed it before her.

With more animation than Mirajane had seen from her in a long time, Lucy glowered at the vacant air while she drank.

"Is everything… alright, Lucy?" Nearly grimacing, Mirajane immediately regretted her choice of words. Of course Lucy wasn't okay – she hadn't been ever since Natsu had left.

But Lucy didn't even seem to register the faux pas. "I just finished up a mission with Cobra," she growled by way of explanation.

Eyebrows shooting up, Mirajane inquired, "Did something happen?" She would murder the Dragon Slayer in cold blood if he had done something to the vulnerable Celestial Mage. With all the rubble and wreckage, it would be a veeeeery long time before all the pieces of him could be recovered.

" _He's such an asshole. The likes of which Gajeel and Laxus can only aspire to."_  Lucy waved her smoothie animatedly to emphasize her point. "I get that we were supposed to capture the thieves. But he didn't have to act the way he did when we interviewed the victims! He insulted, and subsequently pissed off, literally EVERY SINGLE PERSON WE CAME ACROSS. Including the bandits! And ME!" Another wave of the drink sent small pink globs flying, but again Lucy didn't seem to notice. "I think he's subtly trying to undermine the foundations of civilization itself!"

Despite the snarly tone, there was a bright spark of life within Lucy's eyes.

Mirajane decided to temporarily postpone Cobra's homicide.

* * *

_**We Are All That Remains** _

* * *

A couple of weeks later, Lucy walked into the guild to see Cobra waving a disturbingly familiar-looking, faded, off-red flyer in Mirajane's face for approval.

"Bright-Eyes and I are taking this one!"

Swiftly stamped, Cobra smirked maliciously as he approached Lucy. "Move your ass! I'm not waiting around all day for you to get your shit packed!"

She stared at him in dumbstruck silence for a moment longer than he liked.

"MOVE!" he snapped at her, sharp fangs on display.

Squeaking, she scuttled back to her apartment to pack.

When Lucy reappeared at the guild several days later sporting very little in terms of clothing with a large number of scratches and beetles in her hair, Mirajane already had the blonde's favorite drink ready for her.

"HE'S STILL AN ASSHOLE!"

* * *

_**Of A World In Chaos Broken By Change** _

* * *

"What happened, Lucy-san?!" Wendy worriedly tutted as she healed the shivering blonde's latest wounds.

"W-w-w-w-w-well I t-t-t-t-told C-C-C-C-Cobra," the blonde started, rubbing a little warmth back into her limbs. "F-f-for our mission, w-w-w-e had to find a bracelet someone d-d-dropped near a cliff."

"And then what happened, Lucy-san?"

Lucy sighed in happiness when Wendy settled a blanket around her shoulders. "He insisted that we climb down the cliff to see if it had fallen to the bottom. I told him, 'The only way I'm going down this cliff is if you push me.' Then he did."

Restraining a laugh, Wendy nodded sagely. "I see. How come you're all wet, though?"

"Apparently, there was a lake beneath the cliff. What I thought was grass was actually pond scum. Though it would have been nice to know that  _beforehand…_ "

That explained the green slime in Lucy's hair, then.

"And then he  _laughed_  at me! That bastard knew the whole time that there was a lake there! Then he told me that since I have water magic, it was up to me to find the bracelet! He just stayed up on the cliff where it was dry! The whole time!"

Then Lucy grumbled under her breath, "Though he  _did_ have a fire and food waiting for me when I finally got back up there."

And though she couldn't exactly condone Cobra's methods, Wendy was pleased to have her vivacious older sister back.

* * *

_**We Are Light In The Dark** _

* * *

Three months into their unofficial partnership, Cobra had all but moved into Lucy's apartment.

Lucy had protested the intrusions at every turn.

Though, they eventually fell into a pattern. Most days, she would wake up to him napping on the couch, quietly cursing out various other guild members in his sleep. When asked about it, he told her that he sometimes wandered around Magnolia in the middle of the night, and when he finally became tired, her place was closer than his.

Soon he had removed all her items from one drawer of her bureau and starting storing a couple sets of his own clothes there. An extra toothbrush and shower products for men appeared in her bathroom.

Then, probably through coercion, he somehow managed to expeditite the repairs to her apartment building. Because he claimed that the draft was bugging him (to which she told him he could always just go home instead).

Those things she could handle. It was when he decided to rearrange her refrigerator and add his 'snacks' – aka various cleaning products and poisons – that she drew the line. Eventually, they worked out a system for making the situation work, since he clearly wasn't going to be leaving.

She grumbled about it at length to both him and her friends at the guild, but Lucy secretly liked the friendship and familiarity she and Cobra were beginning to share.

And he knew it, too, blast him.

* * *

_**Calling Out For Something To Spark** _

* * *

Cobra growled at the mage that dared to approach his blonde friend. The former criminal didn't care that Sabertooth was friendly with Fairy Tail. He didn't care that all Rogue wanted to do was apologize to the Celestial Mage for the latest prank Sting had pulled upon the guild. Which had involved setting up firecrackers all around the guildhall, set to all go off at once – terrifying the Post-Traumatic-Stress suffering guild members to no end and inciting mass panic. (Cobra had found it all rather hilarious, actually – at least until Lucy kicked him through a wall for laughing. The other guild members had left the hole there for several days, and took many photographs of this incident for posterity – and to remind the morons that you don't mess with angry blondes.)

Striding up to his friend, Cobra grabbed Lucy's arm and pulled her away from the Shadow Dragon Slayer. "I need to talk to you about something, Lucy."

Bewildered, both at Cobra's actions and at the fact that he'd used her  _name_ , she gave a small wave to Rogue. "Sorry, Rogue! I'll talk to you later?"

Rogue openly stared at Cobra like he was a crazy person (kind of inevitable, really, given that he was now a member of Fairy Tail – it came with the territory).

Sting completely lost it from his observation spot (the time-out corner) at the sight.

Then Rogue stared at his friend and wondered why he even bothered.

* * *

_**And We'll Hide In The Graphite  
Deep Inside The Earth** _

* * *

It had been almost ten months since Natsu had left, Erza realized suddenly one day. She had missed him dearly, but the time of reunion was fast approaching. Natsu and Happy, Gray and Juvia. Her team would be complete again.

She cast a glance at Lucy and Cobra in their shared corner of the guild. The smile upon Lucy's face was devious as she traded barbs with her, now official, partner. For his part, Cobra cheerfully insulted Lucy right back. If they stayed true to pattern, the pair would soon switch to making commentary on the actions and thoughts of the other guild members. Then Cobra would say something insensitive (because he  _always did_ ), and Lucy would do her level best to kick him through a wall again (which only occasionally worked – he was now wise to the destructive force behind the oncoming blow).

A pang filled Erza's heart. Although she had Cobra to thank for her reconnection with her best female friend – for it had been him that had insisted Lucy unload her girly thoughts upon some other poor sap – Erza was afraid that their team would never be the same.

But then, Erza realized, when the boys had left it had forever erased the possibility of things returning to how they were. Lucy had nearly drowned in the toxic, fetid depths of the darkness that had taken up residence in her soul when they left her behind.

Cobra had been the one to push back those dark, poisonous waters.

He was the antivenin Lucy had needed to survive.

Every once in a while, Erza would catch Lucy softly smiling at the poisonous man while his piercing gaze and keen, eavesdropping mind were otherwise occupied. And the looks that he would cast back at her when she wasn't looking were just as telling.

Erza surmised that it was only a matter of time before the half-smitten Celestial Mage came to the realization that she needed the Poison Dragon Slayer as more than just a friend.

Cobra shot the Titania a smug look, catching the mien of the Requip Mage's thoughts.

He was simply waiting, too.

The boys were in for a hell of a surprise when they returned.

* * *

_**And Wait For The Fires To Start** _  
_**In Your Eyes**_  
_**In Your Eyes** _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: "Lighthouse" by G.R.L.

_**When It Gets Real** _  
_**Just Know That I'll Be There**_  
_**I Got Your Back** _  
_**Like It's Just You And Me Here** _

* * *

Time had passed much more swiftly for Lucy than she could have believed possible. Almost a full year had gone by since her former Team had been whole. Seasons had changed, the city had risen from the ashes of devastation, and she had become dear friends with someone she hadn't expected to ever get along with. Somehow, Cobra had managed to slither his way into her life, apartment, heart and soul.

There were still days that Lucy awoke, bewildered by the changed world she lived in. Not even waking up on Tenrou Island to find that seven years had passed her by had felt quite so disorienting.

Her apartment had been expanded over the intervening year, and Cobra now had his own room there. It was officially his, too – as his name was on the lease renewal along with the blonde's. Lucy suspected he'd had a hand in the apartment's sudden expansion, but she couldn't prove it.

It was definitely different having the Poison Dragon Slayer for a roommate. Strange and surreal, too, was having him for a partner.

Lucy wondered how her boys would take that news. They were still her boys, even after they had left. Natsu and Gray wouldn't be rid of her so easily. However, they would have to adjust to the new version of herself that she had wrought out her heartbreak with Cobra's help.

Natsu and Gray would have to stop breaking into her apartment – after all, she doubted Cobra would take kindly to the intrusion and she really didn't want to have to replace the wall again. Erza and Wendy were still free to visit, so long as they used the door (Cobra knew better than to try to order the Titania to do anything – and Lucy suspected the surly Dragon Slayer had a soft spot for Wendy).

Cobra was the biggest change in her life, though. He had single-handedly flipped her life around and rearranged it to suit himself like the asshole he was.

Lucy was pretty sure she owed him not just her life, but her very soul.

Despite that, however, Lucy's life did not revolve around him as much as it once had with Natsu. The blonde had time to herself to train, to write, to read, and to go out with her girlfriends. These things had been in short supply a year ago, with Natsu and Happy dragging her off on the next harebrained adventure. Her life was quieter now, but she couldn't call it a bad thing.

She was content.

* * *

_**I'll Go To War For You** _  
_**Let Them Bring It** _  
_**I'll Take On The World For You** _  
_**Better Believe It** _

* * *

Reunion with her lost team was on the horizon, Lucy could tell.

She had very mixed feelings about it.

On the one hand, she wanted to see them because she dearly missed them. Lucy would show them how hard she had worked in their absence to improve herself, to be worthy of being a part of Fairy Tail's strongest team.

On the other… she was afraid to face them. Afraid that they would have, again, outstripped her pace by leaps and bounds. Worrying, too, about how they would take the fact that she'd gotten herself a new partner.

Speaking of, she couldn't help but compare in her mind her Fire Dragon Slayer that had left her behind and the Poison Dragon Slayer that had remained by her side.

Natsu was all heart, and everything fire had a right to be. A force of not only destruction, but creation. He was energetic, and quick to smile. Love for his friends and extended family defined his very being – far more than what Zeref had made him did.

Cobra was a far different soul, but there were similarities and parallels Lucy could draw.

Most obvious was their Dragon Slayer magic. Less so was the fact that they both told people how they saw it. A person could always know exactly where they stood in Cobra and Natsu's regard. Cobra liked to fight almost as much as Natsu did, Lucy had discovered over the intervening months. Also, the Poison Dragon Slayer had developed a healthy respect (fear) for Erza's might. Neither Natsu nor Cobra was capable of moving quickly first thing after waking up, too.

The differences and distinctions between them lay in their basic personalities. Whereas Natsu generally liked most everyone, Cobra most certainly did not. In fact, he could only barely tolerate the presence of most of the other guild members. And there was the cruel streak within him that could not be dissipated. Interestingly, he wasn't as destructive as Natsu on missions, despite being literally poisonous.

However, the most glaring difference was something that often hung heavily in Lucy's mind.

Where Natsu had been physically and emotionally affectionate to the point it had bordered on suffocating…

Cobra could barely bring himself to perform acts as simple as a pat on the head. In fact, it was incredibly difficult for Lucy to tell that he cared about her at all, sometimes. It had strained their friendship a couple of times over the course of the past year.

In time, Lucy had come to see that Cobra was a fan of action, rather than of words. His affection lay in the small things, such as making sure she was almost always in the company of others when he couldn't be nearby, tidying up after himself, actually listening when she spoke to him, the occasional surprise meal, or a trinket he'd picked up somewhere. The man had a hilarious habit of collecting shiny things and random bottles; he wasn't even doing it consciously and was often just as perplexed as Lucy as to where he'd gotten them.

At some point, Lucy realized, Cobra's presence in her life had become as natural as Natsu invading her personal space once had. With this came the rather sobering thought that maybe she'd become a person far removed from who she was a year prior.

Future Rogue had been right all along.

Time does change people.

Would her boys be completely unfamiliar to her, as well, when they returned?

"Heavy thinking for first thing in the morning."

Lucy was jolted out of her thoughts by the rumbling voice of her partner standing behind her. The blonde half-turned in her seat, shooting Cobra an irritated look.

For once unsmiling, he placed a steaming mug on the table before her. "Yes, I do have to do that. It never fails to amuse."

Wrapping her hands around the warm cup of tea, she refused to meet his gaze in a fit of petulance.

Cobra rolled his eye at her, taking a seat to her right with his own drink – a morning brew rather more deadly than the contents of Lucy's mug. From this angle, he could regard her with his functioning eye without turning his head. "You're still worried about them changing like you have?" he questioned.

She flinched.

The Poison Dragon Slayer muttered something under his breath that Lucy didn't quite catch.

"What was that?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing. Drink your damn tea, instead of just sniffing it. I went through the trouble of making it, so you had better enjoy it."

It was her turn to roll her eyes. But she took a sip, anyway.

"Time doesn't change anything, Bright Eyes." Cobra peered at the Celestial Mage, watching her reaction to his statement closely. "Trust me on that. The people you meet, the things you experience during that time are what change you." He paused for a moment, and then asked, "Do you regret anything of this past year?"

Lucy considered it. "No," she said firmly, finally looking at him again. Her fit of pique forgotten, she gave him a small smile full of warmth. "Thanks, Cobra."

He grunted, and returned his attention to his drink.

* * *

_**Whenever You're Down  
I'll Lift You Up** _

* * *

Sitting at the bar by himself, Cobra wondered just what he'd done lately to deserve  _this_ fresh hell. For although he was a former criminal, he didn't recall having done anything within the past couple of months that would justify this level of torture.

For although he was not sitting with anyone, it in no way meant that he was alone. Couldn't he just enjoy his drink in peace without a psychotic barwoman interrogating him about the budding relationships his guild members were involved in? No, that would be asking too much, he decided. His first mistake was sitting at the bar, instead of in a dingy corner. At least in the corner, Mirajane would have a harder time explaining why she was lurking around the person who could hear thoughts.

It wasn't so much that he had a problem with feeding Mirajane Strauss information about the love-lives of his newfound comrades. Actually, it often proved entertaining and quite frankly he was an unpleasant person who delighted in the torment of others.

Today was just not a great day for him. First he'd fallen off the bed in the middle of the night. Then he'd been unable to fall asleep again, leading him to wander Magnolia in the dark like he usually did when insomnia struck. Except he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going, and ended up walking straight into the canal. Soaked and now even more awake than when he'd begun, he returned to the apartment – only to overhear Lucy talking in her sleep. Even though he'd done his level best to dispel her waking fears, it appeared that her subconscious mind would not allow Lucy to escape her doubts and inner fears so easily.

This had been the third night in a row he'd been forced to listen to her cry out for Natsu and Gray to not leave her behind. Lucy had been long past those dreams, but the impending return of the ones who'd abandoned her seemed to give the nightmares new fuel. On top of that, her dread about her boys having changed beyond recognition gained life in those dreams.

Cobra hated hearing Lucy in pain. Despised it with a passion that shocked even him. Adding to his frustration was his inability to help. There was nothing he was capable of doing about a person's dreams. Some of his concern he could chalk up to being her partner, and the rest to a shared knowledge of what it felt like to be all alone in the world with no friends left at their side, but not all of his concern could be attributed to those things.

It was the final reason that had done him in the prior night and left him with no patience for Mirajane.

About to wake his partner up from her nightmare, for her wailing had become far too piteous to let be, Lucy had thrashed a bit. Thrashing wasn't a problem in itself; however, the result of it was. The violent movements tossed her sheets to the floor, revealing a creamy expanse of legs the too-short-to-possibly-be-legal night shorts Lucy was wearing not doing a thing to keep her covered. Her tank top that she'd worn to bed had also ridden up from her exertions, revealing the swells of her breasts in the moonlight that flooded the apartment through her window.

Although Lucy normally pranced around in mini-skirts and revealing tops, for some reason Cobra found himself unable to ignore the scene before him with his usual aloofness. With a groan, he picked up and threw her discarded sheets back on top of her and stalked to the bathroom for his second cold dunking of the night. It was only after he'd gotten himself back under control that he went to rouse Lucy from her dream.

If he weren't the Poison Dragon Slayer and therefore incapable of becoming ill, he would have suspected he might catch pneumonia at this rate. This wasn't his first icy shower of the week, let alone the month thanks to the explicitly randy minds of Mirajane Strauss and Cana Alberona – who had decided to dedicate their vigorous fantasies of late to feature Cobra and Lucy as more than just platonic partners.

So right now he had  _very_  little patience for Mirajane and her obsessive shipping habits.

Mirajane, on the other hand, rather disliked the cold reception she was receiving from Cobra. So in a bid to get a rise out of him, she had started daydreaming about Lucy having intimate relations with males that were  _not_  Cobra.

That did it. "You stop that right now she-demon or I will never help you out again. Don't think I won't follow through on that threat." He didn't even care that he was playing right into her hand. Cobra was exhausted, annoyed, and deeply frustrated over his lack of talent in getting Lucy to figure out that he was male and interested.

A victorious smile spreading across her face, Mirajane cheerfully threatened, "If you don't do what I say, I will hook her up with the Trimens, I swear by Mavis."

Cobra hissed at the Take Over Mage. "You conniving little bint. No." He was not in the mood to be helpful – to put it mildly.

The white-haired woman shrugged. "Fine, I'll just give Hibiki her add –"

"Fuck, fine – Cana had a threesome with the Twin Slayers, happy?" Actually she hadn't but this would go a long way towards making her life as miserable as the Card Mage was making his. It would take some time before Mirajane relented and believed that the brunette was telling the truth about nothing happening. (Plus there was the added bonus of making Sting and Rogue's lives more complicated and difficult than strictly necessary.) "Now leave Lucy alone," he ordered.

Pausing, he then added, "And Wendy. Leave her alone, too. For fuck's sake, woman, the girl is barely  _thirteen_. Give it a rest."

She appeared to contemplate it. "…I will require more details about the Cana thing later. And the truth about Erza and Jellal," she said, narrowing her eyes at Cobra and mentally daring him to challenge the conditions.

Not being a moron, Cobra quickly checked using his magic to determine if Erza was anywhere within a two mile radius before providing an answer. He knew better than to say anything within Erza's slashy-stabby range, which was quite an extensive area indeed. Thankfully, the redhead was out of the city on an S-Class quest at the moment. "Fine. I'll tell you about what Erza wants to do to Jellal."

A soft squeal drifted from Mirajane as she clasped her hands in front of her in anticipation. "Tell me!"

"She wants to hold Jellal's hand."

There was a pause.

" ...Aaaaand?"

"That's it."

Irritation passed over Mirajane's face. "You have to give me more details than that!"

Cobra shook his head and rolled his shoulder. "There's literally nothing else  _to give_. That's the extent of it. Her brain is too occupied by cake for aught else."

She stared at him for a long moment. "I don't believe you."

Rolling his eye, Cobra extolled, "Her mind is literally, 'Cake, Jellal, Cake, Lucy, Cake, Cake, Fight, Cake, Train, Cake, Lucy, Cake.' You really have no idea just how much that woman loves her cake."

Picking up on only one part of that statement and in true Mirajane fashion running with it, she asked, "What are the Lucy bits about?" Images of a steamy love triangle were beginning to form in her brain – images that Cobra needed to immediately put a stop to.

"You're way off base. She's preoccupied with destroying those who impugn Lucy's honor. Which, come to think of it, you're guilty of by trying to set her up with all these men."

"How come you're allowed near her, then?" Mirajane quipped.

"I know the score, and I can hear every single morbid detail of her murderous plots against me." And there were quite a number of them, should he do anything to harm Lucy in any way.

"You are a very brave man."

Again, he shrugged. "If it's for Lucy," Cobra said, a split second later realizing his mistake.

High pitched, ecstatic squealing filled the air, and pierced his eardrums. "Oh my god you two need to get married now!" The Take Over Mage was already envisioning how to decorate the guild for such an event.

Cobra rubbed his temples, the noises emanating from the barmaid beginning to bring on a headache. "Not going to happen. Erza would not hesitate to castrate me."

Practically jumping around in excitement, drawing even more attention to them than she already had with her other outbursts, Mirajane sang, "Inform her that she'll be Maid of Honor and she'll capitulate!"

Not a half bad idea. "I'll keep that in mind. You do realize I would actually have to ask Lucy to be my girlfriend first before bringing up marriage, though, right?"

The burgeoning happy dance abruptly halted. "Wait," Mirajane said her incredulity so apparent the blind could see it. "You mean you're  _not_  already dating?!"

"No, you psychotic barwoman."

Her jaw dropped. "But you live with her! And you're always together!"

"So was Natsu," Cobra pointed out.

This only seemed to perplex her further. "But weren't  _they_ dating?!"

It was his turn to stare at her. He was well aware of how her brain functioned by this point, but it seemed he could still be surprised. "If I didn't already know better, I would think you were on something." Sadly, she wasn't. All that crazy bottled up in her skull was not drug-induced. "No, of course they weren't dating!" Even back when he was with Oracion Seis that much had been obvious.

Her mental gears were trying work through this dilemma, but they were having a hard time of it. "But... but... he slept in her bed!"

"So? You do that with your girlfriends all the time. Including Lucy."

A devious thought occurred to her. "...Do yousleep in her bed?"

"No," he stated bluntly. "Why the fuck would I? I have my own."

Grinning madly, she asked, "Does she sleep in  _yours_?" She was already starting to nod her head.

It didn't look like the crazy train would be stopping anytime soon. "No. Why the fuck would she? She has her own."

Mirajane suddenly pointed her finger at him in an accusing manner. "Natsu had his own, too!"

" _I'm not an insane, invasive fuck like Salamander!"_

Although Cobra thought it a perfectly valid explanation, Mirajane wasn't convinced. Probably because he could hear people's thoughts which by definition made Cobra more intrusive than Natsu could ever hope to be. "B-But –"

Cobra slammed his hand into the countertop, his anger boiling over. "For fuck's sake! I don't want her to get uncomfortable around me –  _oh no you don't demon don't you dare…"_

An ever-widening grin took over the barmaid's face, a mad twinkle entering her eyes. "You're just so -!"

"Stop _. Stop now_ ," he ordered.

"You're so adorable!"

"Fuck you!" he yelled.

" _Oh the babies would be so cute!"_

That final squeal of Mirajane's forced Cobra to clamp his hands over his ears while he muttered profanities at the she-devil. The action didn't help a bit as her soul was being just as obnoxiously loud, but it made him feel better.

Poisoning her was looking more and more like a viable option every day. Too bad she would be able to process it almost as well as he could.

Cobra shot a glance at Kinana down the bar, one that screamed for assistance.

The purple-haired woman slowly shook her head and made an 'X' sign with her arms.

"Hey, Mira," a low voice undercut the giggling woman's mania. "Gramps asked if you could bring him up some lunch."

"Okay!" the matchmaker agreed, disappearing to the kitchen.

Laxus took the stool next to the still flinching Poison Dragon Slayer. "You looked like you needed rescuing."

Sitting up, Cobra gave his fellow Dragon Slayer a rare, grateful look. Mirajane reappeared with a full course meal on a tray and trotted up to the second story. "She wasn't even gone two minutes," Cobra observed. "I've been here for a year, and I can hear thoughts, but I still have no idea how she does that."

Shaking his head, Laxus took a swig of his beer. "I've known her for over a decade and it still fucking mystifies me."

"What do you want."

"Why do you assume –" Cobra gave him a deadpan expression. "Right. Mind-reader."

The Poison Dragon Slayer didn't bother to correct him. Laxus wouldn't listen to a word he said, anyway.

"So, how is Blondie holding up? Speaking of, where is she?"

Cobra eyed the Lightning Dragon Slayer with wariness, keeping a sharp ear out for incoming lightning bolts should he misspeak. "Lucy isn't doing good. Right now she's taking a nap with Wendy supervising under the guise of a routine checkup."

Laxus raised an eyebrow at this. "I'm surprised you're not there with her. You two are almost inseparable."

"Have  _you_  ever won an argument against Wendy?"

Opening his mouth to respond, Laxus stopped himself before any actual sound came out. Pausing, he thought hard on it. "Come to think of it, no. I've never won an argument with her."

"There's a reason for that."

"Watch your tone, Bleach Breath."

"Why?" Cobra sneered, this line of insults a common one between the Second Generation Slayers. "Shouldn't you be the more respectful one as a  _younger_ Dragon Slayer?"

Instead of retaliating, Laxus laughed. "Technically you're the younger one."

Snorting, Cobra backed down for now. "I'll pass along your well wishes."

Grin falling, Laxus narrowed his eyes at the other male. "You think she'll be okay?"

Cobra shrugged. "I haven't a clue."

The pair sat in silence for a long while, just drinking their beer. At least until Laxus decided to try to stir the shit again.

"So, you and Blondie. What's the real story there?"

"None of your fucking business."

A malicious smirk stretched Laxus' face. "Oh? And I bet you divulging the inner workings of Erza's mind to Mirajane is none of Erza's business."

The answering, highly smug expression upon Cobra's face did not bode well for the Lightning Dragon Slayer. "Yes, just as it's none of Lucy and Mirajane's business that you have more than just a casual interest in Lucy's friend. What was her name, again? The redhead with the demented gleam in her eyes."

Fangs grinding together, Laxus growled at Cobra. "Right. And what gives you that impression?"

"How is it that you constantly manage to forget that I can hear your thoughts? Also, I don't even need that much to know. You're lightning personified. Subtly ain't exactly your strong suit. In fact," Cobra challenged, "I bet you couldn't do it if you fucking tried."

"How about we settle this right now?!"

Rolling his eye, Cobra stood up to leave. "Not right now, Laxus. Wendy has a job to get to this afternoon so I'm due back at the apartment." He left unspoken how bad of an idea it would be to leave Lucy alone right now.

Laxus reached out to grab Cobra's arm and prevent him from leaving, but the Poison Dragon Slayer neatly sidestepped. As the other Dragon Slayer swiped at the vacant spot Cobra had once occupied, Cobra growled a warning at him. "Don't fucking touch me."

"Right. Whatever, princess. Anyway, what I was trying to say was…" He made a strangled noise. "Take care of Blondie, Cobra. We're all trusting you with her."

"You shouldn't. I am, after all, venomous." Cobra turned and started to walk away. "But… I hear you."

* * *

_**If You Ever Need Me Know I'll Be There** _  
_**Don't You Ever Be Afraid To Call** _  
_**I'll Be Waiting Over The Horizon** _  
_**Don't You Worry I'm Not Very Far** _

* * *

They were late.

A day passed. And then two. Soon a week had gone by without so much as a word from Makarov's wandering children. Two more passed by in utter silence.

Cobra was less than worried. About the missing mages, at any rate. He was deeply concerned about his partner, however. She had retreated from him during this interminable wait. Lucy was suffused with guilt over being relieved that the boys, plus Juvia, had yet to return. Because it meant that she didn't have to confront them. Not just yet. Then she was torn by just how much she missed them, and wanted them home where they belonged.

It frustrated Cobra to no end, Lucy's preoccupation over this. And he was furious over those little shits that were keeping her waiting. Sure, she'd already been waiting this long – what was a few more weeks? That type of thinking was complete bullshit, as far as Cobra was concerned. She'd waited a whole year for them. Lucy had kept her promise; they should have fulfilled their end as well.

Wasn't that what nakama were supposed to do?

The Poison Dragon Slayer couldn't imagine what was keeping them away. If it were him – it didn't even bear contemplating. Cobra would never have left the blonde alone in the first place. Nothing short of death could pry him from her for longer than a day or two at this point. He was completely comfortable with admitting to himself the depth of his attachment to her.

Where were those idiots?

Cobra shook his head to clear his thoughts. No use dwelling – instead he needed to focus on what he  _could_ do to ease Lucy's suffering.

He eyed the request board, on the other side of the guild.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt for the boys to receive a taste of what it was like to have to wait on someone's return.

* * *

_**So If You Need Me  
Just Holler My Name** _

* * *

"I can't believe you didn't even realize that a whole year had passed. I have better things to do than drag your sorry ass back by your scarf, Fire Hazard."

"Shut up, Ice Pick! I was training in the wilderness! Do you  _think_  I had a freaking calendar?"

"Once a Flame Brain, always a Flame Brain."

"You makin' fun of me, Streaker?!"

"What if I am, Charcoal Breath?!"

Juvia and Happy sighed as the pair paused in the middle of the street to tussle like they were still adolescents. "Juvia thinks that some things will never change," the Water Mage commented. "They've done nothing but fight for the past three weeks. Juvia thinks this may even be worse than it was last year."

Happy agreed. "I guess going a whole year without being able to pummel each other only made them want to fight more." The blue cat drifted over to Juvia, and sat on her shoulder. "I wish they'd hurry up, though. I wanna see Lushy…" Tortuous didn't even begin to describe the cat's past year without his favorite person to tease.

Reaching up, Juvia gently rubbed the Exceed's ears in sympathy. "Juvia completely agrees. Juvia misses Love Rival. And Gajeel. And Lisanna."

"Naaaaatsuuuu!" Happy whined. "Stop fighting! I wanna go home!" Fat tears rolled down his face.

With guilt written all over their faces, the quarreling mages ceased their brawling.

"I miss everyone! I want Mirajane to feed me fish! I want to give Carla one! I want to tease Lily about his fear of thunder! I want to see Lisanna! I want to hang out with Wendy! I want to levitate Cana's barrel out of her grasp! I want to see Erza beat you into the ground!"

"Hey!"

"I want Laxus to zap you!"

"HEY!"

"I want Gajeel to hit you with an iron bar!"

"Do you have something against me, cat?!"

The deluge of tears increased exponentially. " _I WANT TO SEE LUUUUSSSHHHYYY!_ I want her to kick you into a wall! I want her to give me fish! I want to tease her! I want her to hug me! Can we please just go home?!"

Chagrined, Natsu nodded his head and rubbed the back of it with his hand. "I'm sorry, buddy. We're almost there, though, right? Just a few more minutes, I promise. Then you can see everyone again!"

Happy leapt off of Juvia's shoulder, flying into Natsu's arms and he sobbed.

Behind them, Gray and Juvia exchanged a glance. They missed everyone, too. Especially Lucy – the guilt over how they left her behind had plagued them for the entire year.

After Happy had finally stopped crying, the mages continued towards their destination.

It wasn't long before the guild doors came into sight. The guild looked a little different than how they remembered it, but that was to be expected what with the reconstruction. Actually, the entire city of Magnolia looked fantastic – as if no evil had ever befallen it.

With a grin, Natsu dashed full tilt at the doors. Happy, accidentally flung into the air by his partner's momentum, hovered around Juvia and Gray's heads. He shook his head at the Fire Dragon Slayer's antics. "He never changes."

"Because he's a Flame Brain," Gray pointed out, grinning even while he said it.

Kicking the doors open, Natsu shouted, "I'm baaaaaack!"

* * *

_**We Ain't Never Scared  
No We're Not Afraid** _

* * *

So excited to be home, the group of returnees didn't notice the pair rounding the corner down the street from them.

But the newcomers noticed _them_.

Lucy froze in her tracks, as did Cobra.

The blonde stared at the group of three mages and the blue cat as they entered the guild hall. Trembling, she fought to stay on her feet.

Cobra couldn't be sure what exactly Lucy was feeling at the moment, even with his abilities. The tumultuous waves of emotion were crashing into each other, throwing up spray and leaving the surface unreadable – unpredictable. Some Cobra briefly picked out as euphoria over their appearance, relief that they were okay… and terror for the inevitable confrontation.

Then the waters abruptly stilled, though it was an eerie calm. A dangerous one – indicative of a swift and powerful undertow.

He reached a hand out to his partner, and rested it upon her shoulder.

Jumping, Lucy turned her head to stare up at him. Surprised at the rare physical contact from Cobra, she subconsciously leaned into the warmth of the supporting limb. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes for a moment, taking advantage of the small comfort being provided to her. Once she felt centered again, she reopened her eyes and nodded at Cobra.

As she suspected he might, Cobra withdrew his hand once it was clear she would be fine. Before she had time to mourn its loss, and to her utter shock, he had flung his arm around her shoulders. Drawing her close to his side, Lucy couldn't even hope to fight against the colour rushing to her cheeks. Tentatively, afraid that if she moved too quickly he would flee, she wrapped an arm around his waist to steady herself.

When his feet began to move forward, Lucy had to swiftly shuffle hers along as well to prevent herself from falling down.

In but a few moments – though they had felt an eternity to the Celestial Mage – they stood before the once again closed doors. Raised voices filtered through – it seemed that the returned members were receiving a warm welcome.

"We can go in when you're ready, Bright Eyes," Cobra said. He didn't relinquish his grip on her.

Lucy smiled, for the first time in weeks. "Thank you," she whispered.

Both mages flinched, when a familiar voice shouted from the other side of the wooden obstruction,  _"What do you mean Luce isn't here?!"_

* * *

_**I'll Light It Up, Show You The Way** _  
_**I'll Light It Up, Show You The Way** _  
_**I'll Light It Up, Show You The Way** _  
_**I'll Light it Up, Don't Be Afraid!** _

* * *

On a normal day, Erza's brain was predominated by three thoughts alone. She wasn't simple by any means; she just devoted herself to what she considered attainable goals.

Like cake. When and where she would get her next fix of the sugary substance often wholly occupied her state of existence. There was no goal more noble to the warrior-woman than obtaining and sampling every strawberry-cake-ish confection to be had in Fiore.

Not the entire world – attainable goals, remember? Even through the haze brought on by an intense sugar craving, Erza could recognize that she would probably never be able to try absolutely everything the world had to offer. Which was fine. A single country would do – there were quite a number of wonderful shops in Fiore alone and the redhead could very well happily spend the rest of her life in pursuit of sampling from them all.

What processing capabilities weren't being dedicated to cake were taken up with the notion that it might be nice to hold Jellal's hand. Just every once in a while. Erza understood that he felt he wasn't worthy of her, and she could respect that. But she would still very much like to hold his hand. Surely that would be alright?

Now if only she could work up the courage to actually ask him.

Last, but far from least, Erza's final all-consuming thought that almost kept her from functioning like a normal human being, was that anyone who impugned Lucy's honor must suffer.

It wasn't enough that they actually  _do_  anything to her honor – merely the implication that they might, or an insinuation of such brought to her attention by another, was enough to send the Titania's brain into a kill-them-all spiral. She loved Lucy very much indeed, and would do just about anything to keep her shopping buddy/best female friend/cake-sampler-partner safe.

So there it was.

Erza's brain was occupied by three things alone:

The all-consuming need to GET CAKE.

Wanting to hold Jellal's hand.

And destroying anyone who slighted Lucy's honor.

In that order.

But all those thoughts swiftly fled when the doors crashed open, bringing with it her lost family.

"I'm baaaaaack!" a familiar-looking pinkette exclaimed.

The entire guild halted in its tracks and as one stared at the new arrivals. All of a sudden, cheering erupted amongst the excited mages.

Erza dropped her cake –  _her cake_  – and rushed to meet her beloved team. She grabbed Natsu and Gray by the back of their heads and promptly shoved them with all her considerable strength against her armored bosom. "Boys! It's so good to see you home!" Tears gathered at her eyes as her worries over their late return faded, replaced by relief and love. "Welcome home!"

She continued to squeeze them tightly, not hearing their desperate, muffled screams for mercy. Erza glanced up, to see Juvia and Happy hovering and looking lost. "What are you waiting for?" the Titania barked at the Water Mage and Exceed, startling them. "Join the group hug!"

With a cry, they flung themselves at the redhead as well. Happy clung to Erza's neck, face buried in her hair while Juvia wedged herself in between Gray and Natsu's slackened and semi-conscious forms.

After a few moments, Erza released them from her embrace.

Holding them at arm's length, she inspected them.

All four had changed in physical appearance somewhat over the year since their last meeting.

Happy had changed the least of all – he honestly just looked shaggier than he should and would probably look exactly the same as before with a trim.

Juvia's face had become somewhat more defined; elegant features already present in her facial structure now sharper. The biggest change was in how she held herself, and in her clothing choice. It wasn't a major change or even an obvious one for those who did not know her well. But Erza knew all her guild members extremely well. Juvia's attire still covered up the majority of her body, but it was no longer comprised of the heavy fabrics the body-shy mage once favored. It seemed that traveling with Gray had done wonders for her confidence which was not something Erza had anticipated. Still, she was proud of her friend.

Gray's face was also more chiseled than when he'd left and he could stand a haircut. The start of a goatee was what Erza was most concerned about, however. She wondered if she could convince him to be rid of it. Erza wasn't sure how to deal with a goatee-Gray. Such a thing was beyond her realm of experience.

Natsu was definitely the one that had changed the most. His pink hair had grown longer, like Gray's, but somehow had managed to get even spikier than before. A new scar decorated one of his cheeks, and he too possessed stubble. Last, but most obviously, Natsu had shot up in height by quite a bit, adding a new lankiness to his frame.

Erza smiled beatifically at her friends, and finally released her grip upon them. "It's such a relief to see you all home safe and sound. We were worried when your arrival date came and passed by without a single word from any of you."

Natsu flinched, and then rubbed the back of his head in a gesture intimately familiar to the redhead. "Sorry, Erza. I kind of lost track of time, and Gray and Juvia had to come track me down."

She sighed, but the warmth never left the Titania's eyes. "That sounds just like you, Natsu."

The pink-haired mage grinned. "Again, I'm sorry about that." He glanced around. "Hey everyone! It's good to see you!"

While the other members of the guild began to crowd around and greet them, Natsu only half-paid attention to the well-wishing. He frowned, not spotting blonde hair that shone like the sun amongst the crowd. Sniffing the air, he thought he could smell her but it was hard to tell with the press of bodies around him. There was another scent intertwined with it though, he thought. A scent he felt like he should know, but couldn't for the life of him recall.

"Hey, Erza!" he said, perplexed. "Where's Lucy? I don't see her anywhere."

As one, the guild members fell silent. Natsu watched in confusion as the other exchanged knowing glances. Confused, the Fire Dragon Slayer looked to Gray but he seemed just as clueless.

"Yeah," the Ice Make Mage said. "Where is Lucy? And Wendy and Carla?"

"I need to tell them about this huuuuuge fish Natsu and I caught!" Happy exclaimed excitedly, wheeling around above their heads.

Juvia nodded along with the Exceed. "Yes, Juvia is eager to see Love Rival, and Wendy and Carla as well."

Erza briefly cast a look at the other guild members. As it didn't seem anyone was going to say anything, Erza realized that she would have to be the one to break the news to the team.

"Wendy and Carla are off training for the next month with Porlyusica. But Lucy… Lucy isn't here, either. I'm sorry, guys, but…"

Before she could finish, Natsu stepped forward with fire in his eyes.  _"What do you mean Luce isn't here?!"_

Gray was quick to intercede, grabbing his rival's shoulder to prevent him from doing something stupid. "Calm down, Natsu! Take a deep breath, man!" The Ice Mage turned to Erza. "Can you please explain what's going on, Erza? Why isn't Lucy here?" Although he did his best to hide it, panic shone in the depths of his cobalt eyes.

Letting out a short laugh, Erza shook her head at the visibly tense group. "If you would've let me finish… I was about to say that she'd taken a long mission about a week ago. She'll be back later today, in all likelihood."

All four breathed collective sighs of relief.

Natsu laughed vigorously. "You scared me for a moment there, Erza!"

"My apologies. It was not my intention to worry you. You may hit me for my penance!"

The group all sweatdropped. Erza was still Erza. Which meant that they would  _not_  be taking her up on that offer. With the exception of one flame-headed nitwit opening his maw to do just that before Gray beat him to the punch. "So, Lucy went on a long mission? Why didn't she…" His mood suddenly somber, he continued, "Why didn't she wait for us to get back?" It hurt. The person they had expected to be waiting for them… wasn't. There was no brilliant smile there to greet them upon their arrival.

"You were all late," Erza pointed out. "She was short on rent money and couldn't afford to wait any longer. Like I said, she should be back before much longer. You can see her then."

Natsu seemed confused. "Did you let Lucy go by herself on a long mission, Erza?" he demanded. "Why did you do that? You know she gets into trouble even in a group, so…"

Erza interrupted him with a glare. "I think you're underestimating her, Natsu. Lucy didn't spend the past year idle. She worked hard to improve herself so that she could remain by your sides even after you returned. A job as simple as the one she took would be no great difficulty for her to complete as a solo mage."

"But…"

"Besides," the redhead continued, "I never said she was alone. She went with…" Erza abruptly cut herself off, inwardly cursing her waggling tongue.

"Went with who?" Gray asked, suspicious. "I don't see anyone besides her, Wendy, and Carla missing so who did she go with?"

A strangled noise emanated from the back of Erza's throat. There was nothing to be done but admit the truth now. Though she had hoped for Lucy to be present to explain what was going on to them herself, the blonde wasn't present at the moment and the returnees were not going to let the matter drop. "Her… She went with… her new partner," Erza said, watching as her friends' entire world suddenly ground to a halt.

Gray recovered first, swallowing thickly. "Lucy… Lucy has a new partner?" It just boggled his mind that the Celestial Mage would do that. That she would throw over Natsu during the past year for someone else.

Happy fell out of the air in shock, landing with a bounce on Natsu's head. "Lushy… Lushy isn't… our partner anymore?" Moisture started to form in the blue cat's eyes.

Natsu, on the other hand, had gone deadly still. His eyes narrowed, he demanded, "Who is it? Who stole Luce from us?"

"Natsu…" Erza attempted to reason with him.

"No, Erza! What kind of person steals someone else's partner?!" Natsu exclaimed. "I bet they forced Luce into accepting! Tell me who it is, so I know who to pummel!"

"You'll do no such thing, boy."

The Fire Dragon Slayer glanced down. "Gramps! Why can't I? You don't just go –"

Shaking his head in sorrow, Makarov sighed. "He didn't steal Lucy, Natsu. He asked her to be his partner only after months of working together, and she accepted. This is between them, and you'll have to abide by her decision Natsu."

"Wait." The Dragon Slayer was reeling, trying hard to process what he was being told. "So you're saying that… Lucy…  _replaced us_?" His voice had gone quieter at the end of the statement, and scalding hot tears began to leak from his eyes. "I don't believe it!" he denied, though the water still flowed. "She couldn't have… she wouldn't have… Not Luce!"

Makarov shook his head in sympathy for his broken hearted children. "My boy, she didn't replace you. You threw her away."

Natsu gaped like a fish at the old man.

"All four of you did, to varying degrees. But Natsu, yours was the worst. You forced a promise from her to protect the guild in your stead while you were gone. That promise and your words bound her here, so that she could not follow you – the place her heart yearned most to go to. The man who became her partner… when he joined just a scant few weeks after Gray and Juvia's departure, she was a broken thing. A shell of her former self. She didn't smile. She didn't laugh."

The other mages could only stare. A Lucy that neither smiled, nor laughed? Was such a version of Lucy even possible?

"But within a few minutes of walking in the doors, seconds after receiving his guild mark, he made her laugh." A smile touched Makarov's lips. "It was quite a sound." The smile fell. "So Natsu, you are to stay away from her apartment for now. The same goes for the rest of you." He shot a hard look at the other three. "She lives there with him and it wouldn't do for you to callously intrude upon their privacy like you have done to Lucy in the past."

"But Gramps!" they protested.

"No buts, my children," Makarov scolded. "You are to let her come to you when she is ready to talk. Do you understand?"

They all nodded, unable to refuse this order from their Guild Master.

"Wait," Juvia said softly. "Please, Master, won't you at least tell us who Love Rival – Juvia means – Lucy's new partner is? If he is close enough to her to be living with her, then we will be seeing a lot of him."

Happy suddenly let out a great bawl before Makarov could answer. "Lushy shacked up with a guy while we were gone!" he lamented. "I missed out on so many opportunities to make fun of her!"

The guild as a whole relaxed and chuckled at the little blue troll of a feline.

"Sorry, Happy," Master Makarov laughed lightly. "I shall let Lucy introduce him to you. When she is ready. In the meantime, why don't you all go home to rest? It's been a long journey, and a long year. For everyone. Tomorrow, we throw you the best damn welcome home party Fairy Tail has ever thrown!"

Raucous cheers resounded throughout the guild.

But the individuals of Team Natsu, and Juvia, remained silent, wondering what this all meant for their team and friendship.

Gray yawned and stretched. "I know it's only midday, but I'm beat. I'm going home, you guys. I'll see you tomorrow."

As Gray left the guild, Natsu stared out into the streets of Magnolia beyond. As the doors swung shut, he could've sworn he smelled Lucy close by.

* * *

_**When The Night Gets Cold** _  
_**And The Lights Go Out** _  
_**The Sun Is Gone Behind The Clouds** _  
_**When You Feel Lost Then I'll Reach Out** _

* * *

With a soft, strangled cry, Lucy tried to step away from the doors as soon as her Guild Master ordered her friends to go home and rest.

She couldn't do this.

She wasn't ready to face them!

Not yet!

Cobra's grip on her prevented her from fleeing outright. Struggling against his hold for a second, she then cast a pleading look up at him. "Please, Cobra," she whispered. "I can't. Not right now."

He regarded her for a moment, and then nodded.

Unexpectedly, he then scooped her off her feet in a single fluid motion.

It was just as well that he did – her legs had turned to gelatin with her terror. Reaching up, Lucy wrapped her arms around his head. She clutched the fabric of his shirt and sobbed into it, burying her face into the cloth. Only vaguely did she realize that she was being held just like how she'd always envisioned a princess-carry would be like.

"Take me home, Cobra!" she cried, soaking his shirt with the force of her sobs with every passing second.

"I hear you," his deep voice murmured, sending vibrations along his chest. "Let's go home, Lucy."

* * *

_**I'll Guide You Home…** _


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: "Redefined" by tyDi featuring Melanie Fontana

**_Falling Like An Angel_ **   
**_Who Forgot How To Fly_ **   
**_Like A Stranger_ **   
**_That I've Seen Too Many Nights_ **

* * *

Cobra maneuvered the apartment door open as quietly as possible. Lucy had cried herself to sleep in his arms along the way, and the Dragon Slayer was loathe to awaken her. With a soft click, it swung ajar. Turning, Cobra nudged the wooden object closed with his foot. However, locking it proved to be just as difficult a proposition with the blonde clinging tightly to him.

There was absolutely no way in hell he was dropping Lucy, however. So he shifted her weight and propped himself up against the wall at an odd angle. Eventually, he succeeded in locking the door and was free to move about again.

Stepping into the apartment proper, Cobra wound his way around the obstacles of her couch and chairs to reach Lucy's bed. After all this time, he still didn't quite understand the blonde's preference for sleeping out in the open instead of taking the bedroom for herself. Intellectually, he did, but on a more primal level it left him with a sense of distaste. Cobra had been the intruder, so Lucy should have claimed the new room, he reasoned – she had every right to it. But habit and a desire for constancy kept her out in the main area. Still, Cobra was grateful that he had a room to himself. Much as he'd despised his prison cells – all of them – he felt much better sleeping with solid walls around him. Or sitting with one to his back; he suspected it was partly left over from Brain's betrayal during the Nirvana incident, but more likely it was from all the years he'd had to watch it against attack.

As gently as he could, Cobra lowered his slumbering partner to her bedsheets. Her fists clenched around his shoulders as he attempted to stand, causing him to lose his balance. Putting his hands out to either side of Lucy, Cobra just barely prevented himself from falling on top of her.

Lucy continued to cling to her friend and partner, face scrunched up in determination.

Cobra felt like facepalming. She wasn't even awake!

"Don't leave," she murmured.

The Poison Dragon Slayer froze. Scenting saltwater from his partner, he inspected her closely. Lucy was trembling, trying desperately to hold onto him.

She was dreaming of Tartaros again.

Biting back a growl, Cobra attempted to shift her grip. "I'm right here – I'm not going anywhere Bright Eyes. Now let go." Instead of loosening, the strength of her hold on him increased.

With a sigh of exasperation, and certain he was going to be kicked for his impertinence later, Cobra climbed onto the mattress with Lucy. Oh well. He was tired, too. And feeling a bit masochistic, he reflected as he moved her until she half lay on top of him. A tug had the comforter up and around them.

Lucy let out a soft exhalation of contentment, and snuggled into him.

It made his heart clench in pain.

Cobra knew that Mirajane and most of the guild wanted them to become a couple. Which would be perfectly fine with him. Scratch that, he wanted his relationship with Lucy to reach a deeper level of intimacy with a voraciousness that even gave  _him_  pause. Not just the physical component, either – Cobra wanted all who saw them to know they were together. He wanted the world to acknowledge they were meant for each other, that their souls were intertwined to the point where separation would tear them both apart.

He just needed the go-ahead from Lucy herself. To his increasing despair, it felt like the blonde would never come to realize that she, too, felt more than friendship for Cobra.

There was nothing stopping him from confessing himself, but Cobra didn't feel prepared for that just yet. The fear that he was projecting his own desires upon her was almost overwhelming, and the threat of rejection loomed heavily inside of him.

Wrapping his arms around Lucy's warm form, Cobra felt his eyelids start to close in drowsiness.

This was enough for now, he decided.

He drifted off to sleep, with his partner in his arms, to dream along with her of the people they had both once been.

* * *

**_And All These Layers_ **   
**_Building Up Over Time_ **   
**_You Peeled Them Back To Let Me Out_ **

* * *

Honestly, if the light guilds were going to band together to destroy one of the three top dark guilds in the country, they really ought be a bit less vocal about it. Then maybe the dark guild being targeted wouldn't catch wind of the plot. Or, well, the general idea of a plot. None of the light guilds were going into the conspiracy with a solid plan. It was a make-this-shit-up-as-we-go deal, to Cobra's best understanding.

At least, until the first guild to arrive at the bungalow – Blue Pegasus – entered the building. Then Cobra couldn't hear their thoughts anymore. Some sort of protective spell must have been cast over the structure that prevented his Soul Listening magic from being effective. The criminal frowned, as he realized that his Dragon Slayer senses were no good either. A really strong barrier spell, indeed, if it was messing with those.

Which would be a problem if the legal mages actually did manage to pull themselves together and concoct a plan.

Cobra was not looking forward to the inevitable taunting that would accompany Angel's involvement. Or the fact that he was going to have to admit his failure at spying upon these bumbling morons.

As he was about to leave, he paused, Cubelios coiling around him as he hesitated. His Soul Listening magic had picked up more mages arriving at the rendezvous point. One of them was a Dragon Slayer. Eyebrow lifting in interest, he observed their arrival, taking note not only of the rather infamous Natsu Dragneel, but also of the widely venerated Titania. Forget the Fire Dragon Slayer –  _Titania_  was the one to watch out for within this group.

Cobra had almost overlooked the blonde woman accompanying the other mages, at first. She was gorgeous, of that there was no doubt, but there wasn't anything particularly interesting about her that he could immediately observe.

Until he saw the whip, that is.

Nearly snarling at the sight of hateful object, he would've given away his existence to the mages below if he hadn't reined himself in at the last moment. Cobra despised whips, more so than anything else in the world. He wanted to tear its wielder apart – only Brain's firm warnings and the looming threat of punishment by Zero kept Cobra hidden.

Instead, he glared balefully at the fellow teenager as she joked along with her dark haired teammate about the building's architecture.

A few moments of skimming her mind caused him to lower his hackles. Something was off with this one. Try as he might, he couldn't find an ounce of maliciousness inside her. How was that possible? She used a whip. It left him confused, and uncertain. Heavy upon her mind and soul were memories that exuded freshness, and those gave Cobra further pause. The girl – Lucy was her name, he discovered – was trying to keep her inner turmoil hidden from her teammates, but she couldn't shroud them from Cobra.

He tilted his head to the side, regarding her with something that felt oddly akin to respect; which would be completely ridiculous, she was a member of a legal guild, after all. Conflict was raging in her head over… her father? No – her abuser, Cobra decided. Or both.  _Both_.

Curiosity surfaced within the Poison Dragon Slayer as she entered the building and the flow of her thoughts was suddenly cut off from him. He stood, for several moments, with Cubelios as he sorted out all of his new information. She'd stood up to the man her mind saw as both a monster and as kin. She had protected herself more than once against someone who'd only sought to imprison her.

Then, in complete contrast with the rest of her heart, Lucy had taken out a dark guild by herself. Granted it wasn't the full force of the guild. Cobra found it intriguing all the same. Four golden spirits she had summoned. And she had more. Angel would be pleased to add them to her collection, but that wasn't the main source of Cobra's interest.

The girl's mind was keen and overflowing with interconnecting thoughts that wound together in a serpent's dance. He was curious as to how his Soul Listening magic would fare against someone like that. The blonde possessed the same magic as Angel, which would give him trouble if he were to be matched against her. Not that there was much chance of that – Brain was fond of symmetry in his way. It was far more likely Cobra would be facing either the Titania or the Salamander. Still… it was a little disappointing.

When the time finally came to face them, he again found himself surprised by the innocuous-seeming Fairy.

Despite the gravity of the moment, of the inevitable death about to be visited upon this silly coalition of light guilds, or perhaps even because of it, Cobra appreciated the levity the blonde had unknowingly brought upon him.

"Is is strange that I'm terrified of the  _sleeping guy_?" the girl muttered, mostly to herself.

It took everything he had to keep from laughing at her observation.

_'This one has good instincts. Better than the rest.'_

In that moment, he was glad his opponent was to be the Titania rather than her.

It would be such a shame to snuff out the light in the blonde's eyes.

And if the depths of her mind were any indication… Angel was in for a hell of a fight.

Cobra couldn't help feeling smug when, hours later, he was proven correct.

* * *

**_And You Revealed The Mystery_ **   
**_Rewrote My History_ **   
**_When I Had Half My Truth_ **   
**_I Found The Rest In You_ **

* * *

After seven years, it was time to once again face-off against the guild that had ruined his life. Even after all this time, the loss of his friend tore Cobra's soul apart. It was the Soul Link, he knew. The bond formed between two individuals that tied them together for life – born of mutual respect and care.

Cubelios.

Her Soul Link with Cobra had been broken, shattered. Cobra couldn't find her. Why couldn't he find her?

Fairy Tail was to blame for tearing them apart, so Cobra would do the same to them. He didn't give a shit about what Midnight wanted. Not really. This path would lead him, if not to his dearest friend, then at least to his revenge upon the ones who took her away.

Cobra did have to admit he felt a slight twinge of remorse, though, for their chosen sacrifice.

She was, after all, still reeling from recent loss not too unlike his own. But if Midnight's plan was successful, then it wouldn't matter at all. Because it would have never happened in the first place. So in the end it didn't matter how much her despair and sorrow was alike to Cobra's; it would be erased.

Soon, it wouldn't matter at all.

* * *

**_It Was Like Water  
Slipping Right Through My Hands_ **

* * *

The day Cobra finally worked up the nerve to enter the guildhall was quite possibly more terrifying than even the Tower of Heaven had been in his youth. Within the half-demolished building in front of him lay a future he desired, and now that he was at last the master of his own life he would choose his path.

His oldest friend wasn't inside at the moment. But then, almost none of the mages with whom he'd come into conflict with during the Nirvana incident and later the Infinity Clock were there either. Only the blonde was there – he thought. Something felt off about her thoughts in comparison to his recollection of them but he also hadn't paid much attention back then to her (though to say he had been unaware of her would have been a complete lie). The Salamander and Titania weren't there, which was his main concern.

Cobra almost lost his will to enter anyway, afraid of being turned down by the guild that supposedly accepted anyone. This was his best chance to move forward. The Magic Council was gone, and even if it could reform it would be a long time before they came looking for him. Cobra hadn't joined Crime Sorciere with the others, though he'd been tempted. It would have been a good choice, and it was the expected one. He found that he couldn't do it. He couldn't follow the person that had given them to Brain and Zero. It was time to make a decision for himself for the first time in years – not even the escape had been entirely of his freewill.

So he chose for the first time. He chose Fairy Tail and Kinana.

He had no clue what he would do if they rejected him.

A sudden wave of fetid darkness washed over Cobra as he reached for the door. Gagging, he struggled to stand against the onslaught of  _rotten_  that was assaulting his senses. His eye watered with the force it took to keep his stomach contents within him.

Once the tidal wave had passed, and Cobra's vision cleared, he stared in horror at the guild's entranceway.

_'What the fuck was that?'_  he wondered. With his mind, Cobra sought out the culprit behind what he could only assume was an intentional attack.

He blanched as he found what seemed to be a pool of the stuff deep inside one nearby soul. Now that he could properly assess what it was, he found his answer almost immediately. Something inside of his own soul churned at what he was hearing from a familiar blonde Fairy.

Someone, or something, had ripped out one of her Soul Links, roots and all.

_'No, wait…'_  Cobra listened a little deeper with his magic, unsettled with his finding.

More than one Soul Link.

Five.

Five of them were  _gone_.

Gaping holes in Lucy's soul were all that remained, the putrid liquid from before now filling them instead of where there was supposed to be happiness. Utter wrongness accompanied it.

Cobra had never heard something like this before, and just the  _sound_  of her enduring it made him want to be violently ill.

_How the fuck was she still standing?_

Needing to see this for himself, he pushed open the doors to the guild. Controlling his breathing and his strides to give no hint of his internal distress, he found himself standing in the middle of the guild hall. The commotion died, as the members realized who was amongst them.

Then the girl turned and saw him as well.

' _He looks lost_ ,' she observed. Then, much quieter, her soul whispered, ' _Like me_.'

The Dragon Slayer glared at her. He wasn't lost. Not in the least. And he certainly wasn't experiencing anything like she was.

An approaching, very powerful and old soul pulled Cobra's attention away from the blonde. A tiny man with a giant of a soul stood before him smiling gently. This was it. Cobra's gut twisted up into knots at the leader of the Guild. Finding his words stuck in his throat, Cobra glared at him.

The knowing smile that crossed Makarov's face sliced through the Gordian Knot inside of Cobra. "Where would you like your stamp?" Makarov asked, understanding what Cobra could not say.

"Left shoulder. Red," Cobra choked out through the blockage of his throat. He was glad that he didn't sound nearly as emotional as he in fact was. He didn't want to seem weak.

Cobra could feel Lucy's gaze upon him still. Inspecting the new mark upon his skin, Cobra listened intently to her soul for a trace or hint as to what caused her condition.

"Did it pass muster?" Makarov's question startled Cobra. "Oh my, I didn't think it was possible to surprise a mind-reader."

Embarrassed, Cobra could only work up a half-snarl in response. "It's Soul-Listening Magic. And I was listening to someone else," he accidentally admitted. Shit. He hadn't intended to say that.

"You mean eavesdropping on someone else?" the small old man teased his newest brat.

"Screw you."

"No, my boy," Makarov corrected. "Now that you're a part of the guild, you're going to have to show some respect for your Guild Master. Instead of, 'Screw you,' it should be, 'Screw you, Master Makarov.'"

"SCREW YOU, MASTER MAKAROV," Cobra growled with all the venom he could imbue the statement with. Which was a considerable amount.

Then Cobra heard delight, bright and warm, rushing through the blonde woman standing at the board. A small laugh accompanied the cheerful sound her soul was making.

Fixing her with a stoic stare, Cobra pretended to be unaffected by the tones emanating from her soul. It was difficult, however. Compared to what he had heard before, this sound was breathtaking in its beauty.

He'd… never heard anything quite like those clear, ringing notes before.

Flustered by the attention she'd drawn to herself, Lucy did her utmost to flee as quickly as possible.

Cobra snorted in amusement when she pretended she didn't notice his stare.

He decided to leave the issue of the missing Soul Links alone for now. It was none of his concern – the woman was surrounded by her friends and family. Surely they were helping her to mend the rifts and drive back the darkness.

There was no need for him to get involved – even if he did, at least a little, sympathize.

* * *

**_Tried To Hold On, But…  
_ ** **_Never Could Understand_ **

* * *

It became clear to Cobra, as the week passed, that he had been very, very mistaken.

The girl, Lucy… her soul was drowning in the fetid, poisonous waters spewing from the gaps within it. Cobra had paid a great deal more attention to it than he should have, he knew. But he couldn't help it. Just listening to the sounds of her very being screaming in agony was enough to make him ill – not elated as it would have before. Whenever he entered the guild, Cobra was confronted with the discordant, rotten noises.

Something needed to be done about it. He couldn't stand hearing it any more. And not just because of ugly sounds – he did feel for the girl. Cobra understood better than anyone how painful it was to have his friends, his closest companions, wrenched violently from his life.

Now he was watching as his friend again went to a place he could not follow.

And he would let Kinana find that happiness, because she deserved it. His own hopes, he would bury. Cobra would be her friend for as long as he lived, and that would be enough. It would have to be.

But Cobra desperately needed something to take his mind off of Kinana. Before he fell into the same state as the blonde.

When Lucy approached him with that job request to hunt to hunt down some bandits, he seized the chance at a distraction. He felt an odd kinship with the blonde, and when her soul pleaded for him to accept, there was no possible way he could have refused.

Cobra understood what the fear of rejection felt like.

And if no one else was going to help the Celestial mage, if no one else  _could_  help her, then he would do it.

That was what being nakama meant, right?

* * *

**_That I Was Stronger  
Than All The Physical Plans_ **

* * *

Cobra stared deeply into the violet eyes of the young girl sitting across from him at the table.

The child giggled cheerfully, setting Cobra's eye to twitching at the sound.

"…What on Earthland are you doing?"

So deep in concentration he had been, Cobra hadn't heard his unofficial partner walk up to him. Startled, he blinked.

Asuka let out a whooping cheer of victory and Cobra groaned.

"Dammit, Bright Eyes," he growled. "You made me lose."

Lucy paused, confused. "Lose…?"

Still cheering, the young Connell jumped up from her seat to grab the blonde Celestial mage's hand. "Did you see that, Lucy-nee? I beat Cobra-jii in a staring contest! Now he owes me a milkshake!"

The profound look of disgust on Cobra's face was truly a sight to behold.

Amused, Lucy struggled to keep a laugh from escaping. "Cobra… jii?"

"Yes, it's fucking hilarious. Ha. Ha. Ha," Cobra muttered darkly. "Now go tell the Demon what you want."

Asuka released Lucy's hand and ran off to regale the white-haired barmaid with the tale of Cobra's stunning defeat at her hands.

Lucy bit her lip. "Did you… just challenge a six-year-old to a staring contest…?"

"She challenged me," Cobra asserted. "I wasn't about to let a six-year-old call me a chicken-shit."

Lucy found it very difficult to breathe through all of her laughter.

"Hey!" he protested as she held onto the table for support, tears of mirth leaking from her eyes. "It's not that funny!"

"Yes!" she wheezed. "It is!"

"…Since you're the reason I lost, you're the one who's paying for it," Cobra informed her, smugness crawling across his face.

Suddenly, Lucy didn't find it so funny anymore.

* * *

**_Until You Came Along  
And Showed Me How_ **

* * *

Lucy was quite surprised one morning to discover a second toothbrush in her bathroom. For a moment, she stared at it. Then she rubbed her eyes.

Nope. It was still there. Innocuously existing. In her bathroom. Next to her own toothbrush.

She ducked her head out the door, spying Cobra wandering around aimlessly. "Is that your toothbrush in here?"

The Poison Dragon Slayer raised an eyebrow at her. "I would be rather concerned if it belonged to someone else."

Groaning, Lucy withdrew. "Why is it in here?"

"Because that's where toothbrushes go," he reminded her.

"I know that!" Lucy shouted. It was too early for this conversation. The Celestial mage suppressed a yawn. "I meant, why is it in my bathroom? Specifically?"

Though she couldn't see it, Cobra shrugged. "Why not? I sleep on your couch pretty much every other night. Thought it would be more convenient."

Lucy yawned again. Yup. Too early for this. "Alright, then," she said, accepting the presence of the toothbrush. It hadn't harmed her – it could be allowed to persist in existing.

Both of Cobra's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "That's it? No more complaints?" He had expected her to put up more of a fight than this.

Rolling her eyes, Lucy replied, "Trust me, we all benefit from you brushing your teeth."

Mildly indignant, Cobra shot back, "And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"You know full well what I mean, your breath reeks of poison and death."

"No shit." The Dragon Slayer stepped into the bathroom's threshold, leaning against the doorjamb. "I shoot  _poison_  from my mouth on a regular, almost daily basis. What did you expect?"

Lucy started to brush her hair, facing the man slightly. "From now on, we're taking breath mints with us on missions."

"Breath mints are disgusting, did you hear about that guy who got a jaw infection and used breath mints to cover it up, so they had to replace his whole-"

With a strangled noise, Lucy interrupted, "I will launch you off a goddamn cliff why do you know this? Why are you telling me this?"

Cobra grinned widely at her. "Because I  _enjoy_  pissing you off." He really, truly did.

"...Again. Cliff," Lucy pointed out.

Laughing at her, Cobra responded, "Well, unlike you, I wouldn't be _shoved_  off the cliff. I would jump gracefully and not be covered in gunk."

Beginning to get flustered, Lucy slammed her hairbrush onto the counter with far more force than necessary. "I will kill you in your sleep and piss on everything you love," she threatened, saying the first thing that came to mind. She really needed to stop hanging out with Cana. The alcoholic was a bad influence on her vocabulary. So was Cobra, actually.

Infuriatingly, Cobra continued to chuckle at her. "Now that's just petty."

"Bite me," Lucy growled.

All traces of amusement vanished from Cobra's personage. Oh, if only she knew just how tempting that really was. "Now as much as I'd love to," he joked, trying to diffuse the tension that had leaked into the air, "a trip to the hospital for antivenin isn't something I had planned to do today."

"You planned that didn't you, you smarmy shit," Lucy groaned.

Situation now a little less tense, Cobra added, "And besides, haven't you learned your lesson yet about daring me to do things? Need I remind of what happened with the cliff?"

"...Why do I put up with you?"

Candidly, and before he could stop himself, Cobra blurted, "Because you love me."

Heavy silence descended between them. Internally, Cobra kicked himself over and over for what had just passed his lips. This was not how he had meant to broach the delicate subject. He wasn't entirely certain how  _he_  felt about her growing feelings for him. Cobra was going to have to analyze his own, conflicting emotions towards the blonde before too much longer. But now – he wasn't sure if he was entirely prepared to deal with it.

Fucking hell, maybe he  _did_  need a filter on his mouth.

Then Lucy, incredulous, said, "Riiiiiiight."

Even though he hadn't meant to say it, Cobra found that response to his declaration mildly offensive. "I'm serious."

"Okay, how drunk are you?"

Cobra remained silent for a moment, and then sighed. She was nowhere near ready to hear this. Which was, honestly, a relief. So he followed her redirect. "I'm not. But I did sweep Bacchus under the table yesterday."

Giggling, Lucy reached for her own toothbrush – nearly grabbing Cobra's instead. "How you aren't dead yet, I don't know. …Oops, sorry,  _this_  one is mine…"

Cobra wondered if he should mention to the Celestial mage that his toothbrush had been there for three days before she'd noticed it. And that she'd already accidentally used it before – more than once.

_'Nah,'_  he decided.  _'I'll just… let her stay in the dark on this one…'_

* * *

**_Got The Ability  
To Take A Broken Dream_ **

* * *

It wasn't common knowledge, but Lucy was the only person aside from Kinana allowed to invade Cobra's personal space at will.

Though this was an obvious fact to anyone who observed the Dragon Slayer at length, few bothered. Wendy did, though. The Sky Dragon Slayer watched Lucy with the older Slayer constantly. It wasn't that she didn't trust Cobra – if the Master said he could join Fairy Tail, she wasn't going to question it. Also, Lucy seemed to glow in his presence. Far more than she did with anyone else.

This right to approach him that Lucy seemed to possess, though… it was hard won. Through countless jobs together and arguments, Cobra had eventually come to trust the Celestial mage.

Wendy didn't understand why no one else seemed to see how ecstatically happy it seemed to make the Poison Dragon Slayer. The fact that he could trust someone to the extent that he did Lucy was unheard of for him.

Maybe it had to do with the fact that only Wendy could get away with her observations without Cobra turning into a snarly, snapping mess.

* * *

**_And With A Four Letter Word  
Redefined What It Means_ **

* * *

"Hey. Redheaded-Monster."

A pinprick of irritation grew within Erza's chest at the now familiar nickname she'd been given by a certain dark-skinned Dragon Slayer. "Cobra," she stated levelly, looking up at Lucy's roommate. Once she saw the look on his face, however, she bit off the lecture she had been about to deliver. Instead, she furrowed her brow as she took in his defensive posture, his arms crossed over his chest rather than buried in his pockets like they normally were. His ubiquitous scowl was as ever present, but the skin around his one functioning eye was pulled tighter than it usually was.

Something was wrong, that much was clear to the Requip mage. There were very few things that could upset the aggressively snarky Dragon Slayer to this extent. "Cobra? Is something the matter?" Erza asked, concern leaking into her voice. "Or is it Lucy? Is Lucy alright?"

"Bright Eyes is fine."

Relief washed through Erza's entire body in soothing waves. "Thank goodness. You scared me for a moment. So, what's going on?"

Uncomfortable, Cobra shifted in place. "Look, let's skip the bullshit. I need a favor."

Erza drew back in surprise. This was a first. The Poison Dragon Slayer had never asked anyone for anything, as far as she was aware of, ever since he had joined the guild eight months prior. "What is it?"

He uncrossed his arms, and withdrew a folded slip of paper from his jacket pocket. Taking it, Erza opened the paper to reveal a job flyer – an S-Class one at that. "Take Bright Eyes and the Sky Maiden."

Head snapping up, Erza fixed Cobra with her hardest stare. "This is an S-Class job request, Cobra. I'm not sure I'm comfortable taking them on a job of this nature and difficulty." With a purse of her lips, she added, "Also, I don't understand why you would ask this of me. The Master had granted you permission to take on S-Class jobs. You could take them yourself."

Cobra's lip curled upward in a restrained snarl. "I asked because you're S-Class and you don't coddle them. I can't take them on this job. It has to be someone else. I would rather it be you instead of that walking Circuit-Board."

Silence fell between them, the Titania taking her time in processing Cobra's words. There were many questions she wished to ask of Cobra. Finally, she inquired, "Why do you think they need to go on this job in particular?" There was nothing special about it as far as she could tell – just a standard monster elimination request. Granted, the monster in question was a Haint – thus the S-Class designation. Physical attacks didn't affect them, only magical ones. Erza had weapons with purely elemental attacks, so she wouldn't be at a disadvantage against one, but Cobra's poison element along with his ability to amplify sound offensively would be far more effective against this type of creature.

This was the kind of job that Lucy and Wendy both hated, too, now that she thought about it.

Pain flashed in Cobra's single indigo orb. "It wouldn't do any good if I took them," he admitted. "Bright Eyes… she thinks…" With a sudden growl of frustration, he spat, "She doesn't think she's good enough to be my partner! All because of what  _one_  misogynistic asshole pulled out of his rectum."

Cold calm settled over Erza's countenance. "Excuse me?"

Pure, unadulterated fury rippled off the Dragon mage in menacing waves. "The requester on our last job implied that she was completely useless. He outright stated that I must have done most of the work. I…  _disavowed_  him of that notion."

Erza had no doubt that had involved a very terrifying version of Cobra indeed.

"I told Bright Eyes that he was a fucking moron, but it got to her. Because I did have to rescue her at one point." Cobra shook with the force of his emotions. "She won't listen to me when I try to show her how she covered my ass during the fighting multiple times. That's what being partners means. You make up for the others' deficiencies – it doesn't make her any less of a mage but she won't  _believe me_."

"So you want her to go on a job where she can prove herself. Without having to rely on you at all," Erza guessed.

"Right," Cobra agreed.

"Then why do you want Wendy to come, too?"

Cobra hesitated for a moment. "Because…" he said slowly, "Bright Eyes isn't the only one who's been having self-esteem issues lately. The Sky Maiden is worried that she's less of a Dragon Slayer than the rest of us. Which is utter bullshit."

The redheaded woman glanced over to where Wendy sat with Carla and Lucy. They appeared to be happily chatting. Though, as Erza looked closer, she could see the slumped shoulders, and a sad cast to their eyes. Returning her gaze to Cobra, she nodded. "I'll do it, then. Besides…" A smile crept across her face. "It'll be good for the three of us to do something together."

In a rare display of what Erza could only describe as gratitude, Cobra nodded curtly at her. His entire form relaxing, he said, "I've already cleared the plan with Makarov. All you need to do is invite them and go."

Erza silently noted that Cobra was still having a difficult time calling Makarov "Master" unless it was strictly required, or he was faced with the man himself. She didn't blame him – it had taken her quite a while to warm up to the notion herself when she had first escaped the Tower.

Some scars aren't visible.

"Don't worry," she told him, standing up. "I'll make sure they stay safe."

Cobra snorted at that, amusement dancing in his eye. "I'm not worried," he said, turning to leave. "They can handle themselves in a fight."

Erza couldn't help but smile fondly as Cobra departed. He was good for Lucy, she decided. And for all his bravado, she had the feeling that he was going to worry deeply about the safety of the woman he had fallen for.

A LOT.

* * *

****_You Only Need One Spark  
_ _To Start A Fire  
_ _You Only Need One Heart  
_ _To Save A Life_

* * *

Cobra had been wrong when he thought joining the guild was the most nerve-wracking day of his life.

Because  _this_  was definitely it.

He was tired of waiting. Exhausted by the march of time where the tune never changed.

The inevitable return of the fire-breathing Salamander, however, gave Cobra pause. While he normally had no problem with pursuing what he wanted, what he wanted no longer included just himself. His own desires now must coincide or compromise with another's – with Lucy's.

But there came a point where patience ended, and Cobra had waited long enough. So had Lucy.

It was time to move forward.

And so, with great inner unease, he cornered Lucy in her kitchen one morning.

Literally.

Her back pressed into her counter as Cobra rested his hands on either side of her. Not quite touching her, Cobra leaned in, leaving very little distance between their bodies. Uncertain as to why her normally touch-phobic friend and roommate was suddenly in her personal space, Lucy eyed him up and down. Trying to discern even a hint from his posture what it was he wanted.

"Um… Did you… want something, Cobra?"

Yes. Her. He wanted  _Lucy_. In any way, shape, or form he could have her.

"Be my partner." The words were spoken with far more smoothness and calm than he had believed himself capable of in his raw, emotional state. "Be my partner, Lucy." He didn't just mean for jobs, nor did he speak of friendship. Cobra desired far more than mere friendship or comradery from the effervescent woman trapped before him.

But he would let her define the relationship between them, nonetheless. For he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he scared her away. At least he was confident that this much wouldn't. His beautiful blonde possessed a soul far stronger than most others. Including his own.

Lucy blinked up at him, the demand confusing her. "I thought we already were partners?"

"I want it to be official," Cobra stated, his eye boring into hers.

"O-oh," she replied shakily. The thoughts in her head tumbled around like mad things, crashing into each other before running pell-mell around her skull once more.

Her face turned crimson as one of those thoughts rose to the surface, now guessing at Cobra's intentions and wondering if he meant something other than as mage partners.

Cobra waited for her to sort herself out, a mere hair's breadth away from bumping noses with her. It would be a simple thing to just… lean forward a little more. With just one quick movement, he could capture those full lips he'd been fantasizing about for some time. He would bruise them with his ministrations, and explore what lay beyond them until Lucy panted for more. A simple tug of his arms on her waist would force her hips against his, or better still if he stepped forward and truly pinned her to the counter for his hands would be free to roam to his heart's content.

It wasn't the first time the impulse had overtaken him, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. The Poison Dragon Slayer knew that touching her at this moment would be his undoing. How many times had he needed to pull himself back from her hand upon his shoulder, or the times he'd discovered himself reaching out to her? His still-present aversion to contact with other human beings made it complicated for the former slave to display physical affection or receive it in turn, but that was not the only reason behind his withdrawals.

Cobra knew it sometimes hurt Lucy, but it was for her own benefit that he tried to keep a distance between them. Long gone was his fear of her touching him for what it might do to him, now it was for the terror of what  _he_  would do to  _her_. Which namely consisted of claiming her for his own in the most physical way possible against whatever surface was available. And Cobra respected Lucy far too much to do that to her when she wasn't emotionally or physically prepared for it, nor even willing to do so. He would not steal from Lucy her free will.

Now was, however, not a good time for these thoughts. As small a space as existed between their forms at the moment, if he allowed his need to go too far it would create a reaction in his member that would definitely eliminate that minute distance between their lower halves.

With great effort, he clamped down on that rising desire before it could be allowed to proceed to that. For now.

Lucy seemed to be wavering in her decision – torn between saying yes to someone she cared deeply about and respected, and between honoring her exuberant and vibrant, yet long-absent, friend.

The Poison Dragon Slayer was not above using petty tactics to skew Lucy's choice in his favor, however.

So he did get a little closer to her, Cobra's forehead angled to rest upon the Celestial Mage's with only the merest brush of skin-on-skin. Though a risk given his desire for Lucy, the simple contact calmed rather than excited Cobra. It was a move far different from, and yet reminiscent of, one that Natsu used to do with Lucy. Cobra's version of the act, though, was but a whisper of contact, rather than the fiery press of superheated flesh to her forehead. It was gentler than her old partner, and far more considerate towards her.

That difference decided the matter for Lucy.

"Yes, I would love to be your partner."

Victorious, Cobra then withdrew from the minute contact. He felt a smirk start to crawl across his face at Lucy's downtrodden expression as he did so. There was hope for him, yet.

"Good."

* * *

**_It Only Takes One Word  
To Get Inspired_ **

* * *

Cobra was violently pulled out of his dreams of the past year. Instinctively, he pulled Lucy closer to him, the blonde sleepily muttering at him.

Listening closely, Cobra heard a commotion outside. That must have been what had woken him up.

"OUCH! DAMMIT, ERZA! I JUST WANTED TO SEE LUCE!"

Indigo eye narrowing at the familiar voice of the Salamander outside the apartment, Cobra growled lightly.

"If you cannot follow the Master's will, you'll have me to answer to," the Titania lectured. "Now come along."

"Ow ow ow ow ow!" Natsu screeched. "Let go of my ear! Why the heck are you here, anyway?!"

"I was guarding the door in case you pulled something like this," Erza stated. "You will face the Master's punishment over this."

"What… wait… no, Erza!"

Ignoring the Fire Dragon Slayer's protests, the Titania dragged him away by his ear.

Cobra snorted. He owed the crazy, hammer-wielding redhead for that.

"Cobra?" Lucy said, the noise stirring her from her own slumber. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," he told her. "Go back to sleep."

She sighed, pressing her face against his warm side. With a shrug and a shimmy, she adjusted her position to something a little more comfortable. "Do you… do you think I'm a coward?" Lucy asked quietly.

"Of course not. What makes you think that?" Cobra was perplexed by her question.

Lucy gave a slight shake of her head. "I think I am sometimes." Smiling into his side, she said, "I had a strange dream. I dreamt I was you. It was… different." With a final, sleep-ridden sigh, she started to slip back into her dreams. "Night, Erik. Love ya."

Gently squeezing her shoulders, Cobra said to the already unconscious woman, "Love you, too, Bright Eyes." He knew she wouldn't hear him, or even recall what she'd just said when she awoke. But he had needed to say it nonetheless.

Cobra felt like crying.

* * *

**_Now When I Think Of Love  
It's Redefined_ **


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song: "So Far Away" by Staind

_**This is my life** _   
_**It's not what it was before** _   
_**All these feelings I've shared** _   
_**And these are my dreams** _   
_**That I'd never lived before** _   
_**Somebody shake me** _   
_**'Cause I, I must be sleeping** _

* * *

Letting out a great yawn, Mest stumbled into the guild hall in the wee hours of the morning. Every joint and muscle in his body ached from the intense bout of Direct Line-ing he'd done for the past week. This was downright torture. Did mages have something like worker's compensation? For injuring themselves at the behest of their crazy guild masters? Resolving to look into it - and if it didn't exist, then committing to making it a thing - he tottered his way to the bar counter, where Mirajane was already diligently polishing glasses and prepping the place for the daily influx of crazy.

Dear gods, when did the woman sleep? Mest couldn't help but wonder. It was like she was  _always there_ in the guildhall doing something or other. Whether it was washing dishes, cooking, serving, or approving job requests. Was it because of the Satan souls? Was that the source of her seemingly inexhaustible energy and apparent good cheer?

"Good morning!" she chirped at him, already far peppier than anyone had a right to be before dawn. Hell, the sun wasn't as energetic as her – taking its sweet time to haul itself up over the horizon.

Unenthusiastic, Mest intoned flatly, "Mira. Morning." Deciding that his muscles weren't up to the balancing act that perching on a barstool required, he changed directions and plunked himself down at one of the multitudes of empty tables instead.

After a few moments, Mirajane glided from behind the counter, placing something warm and steaming in front of the exhausted man. "Steamed milk with honey and a pinch of cinnamon," she explained, giving him a conspiratorial wink. "On the house."

"I love you," Mest professed in abject adoration. His hands winding around the warm cup and taking a sip, he felt its heat suffuse his very soul. "Marry me."

She giggled at him. The deep gratitude emanating from him for the simple act of kindness was rather endearing. "You'll have to fight my fans for the honor, I'm afraid."

Trepidation passed over his face. "Hmm. That sounds dangerous." Mest glanced down at his still steaming mug, studying the whorls in the liquid in serious contemplation of her statement. Then he looked back up at the barmaid. "Let me make S-Class first, and then I'll give it a go." He delivered the proposition with deadly seriousness in his tone.

Mirajane merely continued to smile at him, though her eyes were gentle. "I'll make sure that the Master doesn't send you on another mission during this year's S-Class Trials." Her offer held a sharp note to it, despite her expression. "It's too bad you couldn't participate this winter."

Heaving a sigh, Mest shook his head. "The missions are important, so it couldn't be helped. Making S-Class was never really a big goal of mine, to be honest. I might try harder now that I have incentive, though." Mischievousness glittered in his tired eyes.

The barmaid swatted his arm. "Really, though, Mest. The Master is sending you on too many covert missions." When he opened his mouth to protest, she gave him a hard look and added, "I understand that it's important, but so is your health. If you collapse of exhaustion... then what?"

"I'm the only one that  _can_  do them, Mira," argued Mest.

Her gaze hardened further. "I doubt very much that you're the only one capable of completing these missions. What you  _are_  is the fastest. And Master shouldn't be taking so much advantage of you for it."

With another sigh, Mest deflated before her eyes. "My magic makes me the ideal choice. I don't want to endanger someone else's life by having them do it at a disadvantage. Besides..." His gaze slid away from hers, and his fingers swirled a pattern on his mug. "I have a lot of time to make up for."

Mirajane's look did not soften. "That's bullshit," she stated calmly, surprising Mest into meeting her intense gaze once more. "You sacrificed a great deal for this guild. For a long, long time. Alone. And you helped keep us together, when we thought the guild would disappear for good. We owe _you_  for that, Mest. Not the other way around." Finally, the tenseness in her brow relaxed, and her expression turned kind again. "You should be spending more time here than anyone else, making new memories with us. You deserve that, and so much more."

Water began to fill Mest's eyes, and he bowed his head, clenching the mug a little tighter in his hands. Not trusting his voice not to crack, he nodded slightly. A warm hand clenched his shoulder, giving it a gentle, but firm, squeeze of solidarity. He thought to reach up, to feel his hand beneath hers, and then thought better of it. After a moment, she gave his shoulder another squeeze, and then withdrew.

He felt more alone in that instant than in the seven years he'd mourned Fairy Tail's disappearance.

"Why don't you finish that, and rest up in the infirmary?" Mirajane said. "I'll come wake you once the Master gets in."

"Thanks," he whispered. He heard her footsteps as she walked back to the bar. "Hey, Mira?"

"Hmm?"

Mest looked up, into her serene gaze. "It means a lot, that you worry. That someone does. Gives me..." His lips quirked up, as he found himself echoing his earlier words. "It gives me extra incentive to make it back in one piece."

Her eyes were the softest he'd ever seen them. "Then make sure you do," she told him. "I'll hold you to that promise, too."

How lucky was he, Mest thought. That he could find a place to belong after all this time?

* * *

_**Now that we're here,** _   
_**It's so far away** _   
_**All the struggle we thought was in vain** _

* * *

It was time to wake up.

Lucy didn't want to, though. She wanted to remain in her dreams, oblivious to the world turning outside. But no matter how much she struggled against it, her mind returned to consciousness in fits and starts.

The first thing she became aware of was heat; overwhelming heat. For a split second, she panicked. Heat meant  _Natsu_ , and she wasn't ready to face him yet! It was only after she jolted into full awareness that she realized that she was safe in her bed, and that the heat was not coming from her former partner, but her new one instead.

Embarrassed but thankful that her instincts had been wrong, Lucy relaxed into her sheets. She gazed into the slumbering face of her roommate, marveling at how close he was to her. His arms were still wrapped around her loosely, even though they should have long since fallen asleep from her weight.

It was strange, to say the least. Cobra was not a fan of touching. So for him to be as peaceful as this, holding her of his own volition? It spoke volumes to her about how far they'd come since he first joined the guild. Hell – since she first met him, eight years ago in the Worth Woodsea. How was this even possible, really? Cobra was her partner, a member of Fairy Tail; her rock when she was drowning.

She wanted to stay there, watching him, for as long as she could. Her bladder had other ideas, though. It demanded that she get up now. So, with deep regret, Lucy extricated herself from Cobra's arms and slid off the bed. The floor was cold and she practically danced along it to the bathroom, keeping only the balls of her toes in contact with the chilled surface. Grabbing a towel and the first set of clean clothes she could find, she ducked in and shut the door. She turned on the bathtub faucets to a scalding degree, and let it fill while she relieved herself.

On the counter, she spotted their toothbrushes. The sight of the mundane objects made her smile, though she wasn't quite sure why.

Shaking off the odd thought, Lucy finished up, then derobed the rest of the way and climbed into the now-full tub. A great sigh of relief burst from her unbidden as the hot water sank into her sore muscles. Sleeping next to a person wasn't something she was completely used to, and honestly it wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world. Physically speaking, anyway. Emotionally, though…

Lucy hummed quietly, thinking back to her partner's slumbering face, held so close to hers that she could feel his shallow breathing. Her skin burned from the memory, and she sank a little deeper into the water. What was up with her? It was Cobra, for crying out loud! This whole thing probably meant nothing.

Nothing, other than that he trusted her completely.

" _Love you too, Bright Eyes."_

Squeaking in alarm, she fully immersed herself in the tub. Where the hell did that thought come from?! There was no way he'd ever say that to her! Yet, despite how she tried to force the sound of his voice saying those words from her mind, she couldn't seem to shake them.

She reemerged, gasping for air. It was just a fever dream, or something. Brought on by the stress of Natsu's return. That's all it was. Just her imagination.

Unexpected pain gripped her chest, claws digging in tighter and tighter the more she repeated the mantra to herself.

It left her to wonder. Did she… somewhere deep inside…  _want_  Cobra to say those words to her?

Preposterous. Ludicrous. It was insanity. There was no way that was true. Maybe she just… just wanted  _someone_  to say it. Yeah, that was it. She was just lonely, is all. And projecting onto Cobra those feelings. Given his ability to hear her thoughts, she needed to smother these ones fast. This kind of thing had the potential to ruin a relationship, and she desperately wanted to keep Cobra in her life. She couldn't lose another person in her life. She just couldn't bear it.

"I'm a coward," she said softly.

" _Do you… do you think that I'm a coward?"_

A sense of déjà vu swept through her like a current. Did she… did she say that last night? Wracking her brain, Lucy tried to pull out the memory from the clutches of sleep that still held fast to it. She could have sworn she did ask him that. She really did. But what had his response been?

For the life of her, she just couldn't remember.

Throwing in the towel on the endeavor, Lucy set about washing up. Water cooling fast, and her skin pruned from how long she'd been in there, she was relatively quick about it. Soon the water was draining, and she was standing in front of her fogged mirror. Rubbing a section clear, Lucy stared at her reflection. There were blue markings on her collarbones, and she traced them with a loving fingertip. They'd been Cobra's idea. Tattoos to replace Aquarius's mark once it faded completely. The sight of them made her feel… not whole, exactly. Less alone.

She hadn't been alone this entire time, she realized. Aquarius's love was still with her, and the love of her spirits. Her guildmates, too, were always just down the street if she needed them.

And there was Cobra, too.

Natsu may have left her. Juvia and Gray and Happy may have left her as well. But her life was still full of people who cared for her, and people she loved dearly in return.

" _Night, Erik. Love ya."_

" _Love you too, Bright Eyes."_

Tears filled her eyes, and the strength left her legs. She sank to the floor, an ungraceful tangle of towel and limbs.

Not a wish, after all. Not her imagination.

She'd told him she loved him, and he'd responded in kind.

It would be easy, to write off the confession as something uttered when there was more sleep in her brain than sense. But the tears running down her cheeks were a testament to the truth of her feelings.

Lucy loved him. Thinking back on the toothbrushes, and all of the other signs of Cobra in her apartment, his presence in almost every facet of her life… She had probably felt this way for a long time.

This was too much for her to handle. Natsu's return, and the inevitable confrontation alone was enough to overwhelm her. Her feelings for her new partner, and his for her, were a magnitude all their own.

Grabbing the counter, she slowly pulled herself to her feet. There were things she needed to do, before she and Cobra dealt with this. One thing at a time.

Unlike a year ago, this time she would keep herself afloat. She finally had the strength to do so.

* * *

**_All in the mistakes,_ **   
**_One life contained_ **   
**_They all finally start to go away_ **   
**_Now that we're here it's so far away_ **

* * *

Cobra stirred to the sound of rain drumming upon the windowsill, warm beneath sheets still thick with Lucy's fragrance. Stretching out across the bed, Cobra felt the absence of his partner in the coolness of the empty space. A gentle hum behind him, and the rattle of dishes soothed any rising worry or concern about where Lucy had gone. He yawned; the warmth of the covers, the lull of the steady pattering of rain, and the heavy fog of pleasantly quiet dreams still drifting in his head forestalling any further action on his part. Instead, he was content to let the peace of the morning, Lucy's humming, and the lingering scent of the sheets wash over him, cocooning him in a sense of safety he had only recently begun to accept could be commonplace in his new life.

"I see you're awake!" Lucy teased from the kitchen. "Get up and help me with the cooking dishes." She paused for a half a beat, and then added with a light laugh, "What few there are, anyway. We seriously need to restock the fridge."

He groaned, loathe to leave the profound comfort of Lucy's bed. "I take it you hit the coffee already," he grumbled, running a hand though his grimy hair and half-heartedly attempting to stifle another yawn.

"I would not be functional without it." She plunked a mug on the counter. "And there's yours, grumpy."

Sitting up, Cobra heard several of his joints pop and creak. "I feel like I'm getting old," he grumbled, struggling to summon the energy necessary to push himself to his feet.

Lucy giggled, the brightest and happiest sound he'd heard from her in weeks, and hope slid into its new home inside Cobra's chest. "I'm getting some serious deja vu right now," the Celestial Mage remarked, emerging with two plates. Setting them down on the table, she went back for Cobra's coffee and her own. "Remember the first night you stayed here?"

"Vividly." He made his way over to the table, and sat down at the place beside Lucy's customary one.

"I heard the door knocking at two in the morning," she reminisced, sitting down next to him. "You looked like hell."

His mug was passed to him, and he drew a grateful draft of the hot liquid from it. "Definitely felt like it." Which was putting it rather mildly. It had been so horrendous where he had been staying, what with the nightmares, and the overwhelming sensory overload from the crowding, that it had led him to seek out the only person besides Kinana that he was on semi-friendly terms with at his new guild. "You didn't even ask why I was there, like you should have. You just let me in without a word." It was no exaggeration to say that that had probably saved his life. That trust, her understanding. He'd been offered water when he hadn't even known he was dying of thirst.

"And then you crashed on my couch," she finished, thoughtfully. "And never left." She drank from her own cup, and then set it down. Running her finger along the lip of the ceramic, she bit her lip.

Cobra waited as she shifted through the confusing multitude of thoughts circling her mind. Content to let it wash over him like background chatter as she puzzled herself out. It was yet another thing that he'd become used to over the past year. The balm that was being able to turn down the volume on his Soul Listening magic was something he'd never considered possible before. He wasn't sure the old him would recognize his newer self. And if he did, he probably would have tried to kill his current self out of a misplaced sense of self-preservation.

"Erik," Lucy finally said, and his attention returned to her. Her eyes bored into his, the gravity of her feelings as keenly felt by him as they were by her. "I think you saved my life."

"You saved mine," he responded. "We're even."

He was surprised when she thought to move her hand to cover his, and then did so. He gazed into her eyes, searching for an answer, and slowly curled her calloused fingers into his. Where their skin met, it burned, but not unpleasantly. It was an anchor, for both of them.

"I'm sorry for last night," Lucy stated, swallowing thickly. "I panicked over... over Natsu's return. And left you to deal with it."

"It's fine. It would be weird if you were unaffected by it all."

She nodded at him, grateful for his saying that. "I think... I need another day to prepare myself, but I'm not going to run from him, from the reality of all this. I need to… I don't know. Figure out how to explain…" She made a vague gesture with her free hand at the apartment. "All of this." Wrinkling her nose, she grinned at him. "Also, you need a shower. But." Her expression became somber once more. "This isn't going to be pleasant. For any of us. It's going to hurt, and there's no way out of that. I'm not going to lie and say that it doesn't scare me. A lot. But… but once it's over... let's go on a vacation."

Cobra raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought you were done with running?"

"I am!" she swiftly reassured him. "I am. But I think Natsu will need time to process and… honestly? I can't recall you and I going on a single non-work-related trip. We could use some quality rest and relaxation. And..." She gave his fingers a firm squeeze. "I think we need to talk about… what I said to you last night."

Her words froze him in place, his entire body stiff and his body failing to even remember how to breathe.

She remembered.

That fact hit him like a giant hammer to his gut.

_She remembered._

"I think I can wait until then," he somehow managed to choke out around the emotions threatening to escape him. Actually, he wasn't at all sure about that promise, as his gut threatened to turn itself inside out. This was what he'd simultaneously hoped for and dreaded. One way or another, the feelings growing inside of them would be addressed.

Lucy smiled at him, happiness in her eyes, and the hand holding his showing no signs of relinquishing its grip anytime soon, and suddenly it became just a little easier to wait.

* * *

_**These are my words** _   
_**That I've never said before** _   
_**I think I'm doing okay** _   
_**And this is the smile** _   
_**That I've never shown before** _

* * *

With a hearty groan of complaint, Mest abruptly awoke in Fairy Tail's infirmary. It was much brighter than when he'd fallen asleep, the fluorescent overhead lights glaring down on him and highlighting the dust motes that floated through the air.

Just as painful were the sound stemming from outside his room, in the main hall. From what was drifting in, it sounded like a celebration? Or a brawl. Or a celebration that had become a brawl. All were equally likely with the rambunctious guild he called home.

Since commotion was nothing new at Fairy Tail, and this wasn't Mest's first encounter with it, he didn't pay it much mind, other than to internally bemoan the migraine he could feel coming on. He yawned, stretching his arms above his head. On a nearby stand, he spied a lukewarm glass of water, with a small note tucked under it. Gratefully, he downed the contents of the glass, and thumbed open the folded paper.

He smiled down at it, recognizing the beautiful penmanship.

_I expect you to keep your promise about the S-Class trials._

If Mest had been asked a year before that where he thought he would find his life now, he wouldn't have been able to guess this. His hopes for the future were brighter than he thought possible, now.

Tucking away the note in his pocket for safekeeping, Mest then threw back the bedsheets. He slipped into his shoes, and made his way out of the infirmary. Glancing at the ruckus in the guild hall, he did a double take upon seeing a flash of pink hair amongst the crowd. With a short wave, he caught Mirajane's attention at the bar. Motioning with his hands, he indicated the crowd and mouthed, "Is that who I think it is?"

She nodded back, and then motioned towards the stairs.

Ah, the Master must have just gotten in. Old dog was only  _now_  showing up to work? Maybe it was time for the codger to retire. Regardless, Mest gave Mirajane a thumbs up, and took the stairs up to the second floor.

He knocked on Makarov's office door, entering at the muffled invitation given.

Makarov looked up from some documents as the man entered. "Ah, Mest! Welcome back, my boy. Sorry for not waking you up when I got here. Mirajane told me you were resting in the infirmary. Then she gave me an earful about letting you rest more!" Upon seeing Mest's slowly spreading smile at hearing that, Makarov then added, "So I did the safer thing and waited until you woke up on your own. But, now that you're here, we can get on with the report."

Nodding, Mest launched into the details of his mission to Alvarez without further ado, and his communications with the spy he'd planted there. "Overall, Sorano seems to be doing well, but I'm starting to get worried that if she pokes her nose into the wrong place too many times that she'll get herself into some real trouble." Cobra would have been a much better choice as spy, he thought to himself. But he and Lucy were joined at the hip these days, and Mest doubted that the incorrigible dragon slayer would agree to it were he to propose the idea to him anyway.

The Guild Master pondered the intel for several minutes. "I see. Are you certain that she can't remain embedded? Her intelligence is proving extremely useful."

Mest emphatically shook his head. "Bad idea, sir. She's going to get herself killed, and I'm not going to allow that to happen under my watch." Flashes of smoke and broken bodies passed over his mind's eye, and the phantom stench of burnt flesh filled his nostrils.

Never again.

A great sigh emanated from Makarov. "I wish you had let me go in myself a year ago, boy. I'm a little more familiar with the political maneuverings than your spy seems to be."

Mest shook his head in further denial. "Not a chance, Master. I have no regrets about stopping you from disbanding the guild and leaving."

Makarov rubbed his temples. "Very well. Choose whoever you need to extract her, and we'll bring them up to speed on the situation. Now… what about that other matter I asked you to look into?"

With a roll of his eyes, Mest let out a groan of frustration. "Right, that. I wish it were as easy as infiltrating an enemy nation seems to be. But I'm making a lot of headway with the new Council. With Sorano and Erik doing so well, and with everything Jellal is doing about Avatar, I think they're willing to consider pardons. Maybe not… full… pardons, but… At least they're more open to the idea than they would have been with the old guard in charge. I'll keep working on it, though."

"That's excellent news!" Makarov exclaimed. "That they're willing to talk about it at all is promising. Thank you for your service, Mest. Really. You've done amazing work this past year."

"Are you sure you're not just saying that because Mira threatened you?" Mest teased.

A violent shudder passed through Makarov. "She is singularly terrifying when she has you in her sights. But no. I mean it. With any luck, this will soon be all over and you'll be able to do whatever you wish with the rest of your life. Keep up the good work."

Mest smiled. "I'll head out for Alvarez again in two days. As soon as my magic replenishes completely. Although… speaking of Erik. I noticed Natsu downstairs… have Gray and Juvia returned, too?"

"Indeed. Dragging Natsu by his ears, as it were."

"I would have paid anything to have seen that," Mest mused. It made for an entertaining mental picture. "So how did it go with Natsu, and Erik and Lucy? I know Natsu leaving like he did hurt Lucy pretty bad, and I can't see Erik responding to his homecoming well. For that matter, I can't imagine that seeing Lucy with another partner went over well with Natsu, either."

Makarov opened his mouth to respond, and then hesitated. His gaze diverted over Mest's shoulder, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"…Erik?" a deadly calm voice inquired behind Mest.

Mest's blood ran cold. "Natsu." Swiveling around, he peered into the raging fire in the Dragon Slayer's gaze. He stood in the open doorway, his hand still on the doorknob.

"Who's Erik, Gramps?" Natsu asked. "Is that Lucy's new partner's name?"

Sighing, Makarov nodded. "That is his name, yes."

Abruptly, the pink haired man turned and stalked out of sight. Mest rushed out of the office, just in time to see Natsu leap over the banister and drop to the first floor.

"Oh, crap. What have I done?" Mest whimpered. "I should warn Lucy that he's…"

Makarov's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "I think you'll just get burned if you try."

Mest sank, clutching the banister for support. "But… but Lucy…"

"Isn't home, as far as I'm aware. Besides, she has Erik and her Spirits," Makarov stated. "She'll be fine. We managed to stall him for a day, but this is something that they're going to have to work out eventually." Sorrow coated his words. "Unfortunately, this isn't a conversation we can have on their behalf."

Sick to his stomach, Mest released the railing. "I think I need to be there, anyway."

"Then go," Makarov urged. "Go support them."

Mest nodded, then vanished.

"Oh, my poor children," Makarov muttered. "How I wish I could take away this pain from you."

* * *

**I _'m so afraid of waking_**   
_**Please don't shake me** _   
_**Afraid of waking** _   
_**Please don't shake me** _

* * *

At the apartment, Cobra froze in the middle of preparing lunch, setting off alarm bells in Lucy at the abrupt lack of noise in the kitchen.

"Erik?" she called, looking up from her book. "Is something wrong? You got quiet all of a sudden."

He held up a finger, urging her to silence, as his ears and magic strained. "We're about to have company," he announced after a minute, his tone droll. Hanging up his apron - a frilly thing in royal purple that Lucy had bought for him as a joke (and that he unironically loved) - Cobra waved her over.

"What is it?" she asked in hushed tones, worried over his action.

"We're about to have uninvited company." His lip curled in distaste. "Natsu just left the guild in a hurry, and he's intent on coming here. We may have that confrontation sooner rather than later." Though concern shone clearly in his eye, his tone was matter-of-fact. "What do you want to do about it?"

Dread filled the pit of Lucy's stomach. But she squared her jaw, and a spark of determination settled into her eyes. "Let him," she stated, sitting down at the table. "If he's determined, then there's no way Natsu won't be able to get in here. It's not a fortress, after all. May as well handle him now."

Anger made the light reflected in her eyes dance. "But I'll let him know just how I feel about this conversation being forced."

Cobra grinned, fierce pride flaring inside him. "Let him have it, Bright Eyes."

"Oh, I will," Lucy promised. "I will."

A knock resounded on the door, and Lucy involuntarily stiffened.

"It's Mest," Cobra reassured her. "Seems he accidentally spilled the beans. I'll let him in."

She mustered up a smile for Mest, as he swept in uttering apologies. "Don't worry about it, Mest. Thank you for coming."

He rung his hands, looking absolutely miserable. "Well, I'm here if you two need me."

"We probably will," Cobra stated bluntly. He sat down, and took Lucy's hand in his again, offering his support in a more tangible form. "But we're strong enough for this," he reminded Lucy gently.

"Together, we are." Lucy gazed at him, calmer for his presence at her side. "I'm as ready to deal with this as I'll ever be."

Then came a furious pounding at the door.

With a deep, steadying breath, Lucy let go of Cobra's hand. She walked over to the door, and pulled it open to see the furious dragon slayer on the other side.

The sight of Natsu there, after all this time, was indescribable. Not much was outwardly different about him. His hair was a little longer and shaggier than she remembered, and he might have grown a little more. His chest was heaving with the effort of running all the way to her apartment from the guild, and his shirt clung to him, soaked through from the persistent summer rain.

After all had been said and done, he still looked like her partner, her first human friend, come home after a long, long time away.

"Hello, Natsu," she said, with a lopsided smile. It was difficult to maintain her anger in front of him, when the full force of just how much she had  _missed_  him had finally hit her. Then she stepped to the side, allowing him into her apartment. "Come on in. It's time you and I catch up."

* * *

_**And I feel like I can face the day, and I can forgive  
And I'm not ashamed to be the person that I am today** _

 


End file.
